Book Description
A unique specimen of Robert Sweet's 1818 'Hortus suburbanus Londinensis', bound in a interleaved state, with significant ink annotations throughout contributed by the former owner Abigail Baruh Lousada. Among Lousada's annotations are a list of an additional fifty-four Australian native plants that were not included by Sweet in the printed manifestation. In her lifetime Lousade pursued an interest in mathematics, and natural history, and completed a translation of Diophantus; the manuscript of her work 'Geometrical problems resolved by means of compasses ... ' is held by the University of London Library. As Robert Sweet subsequently thanked Lousada in the postscript of his expanded 1826 edition 'Hortus Britannicus', and moreover, named the geranium 'Pelargonium Lousadianum', or 'Miss Lousada's Stork's-bill' in her honour, it is likely that Lousada's notes were shared with Swee and used for the subsequent expanded edition. Source: Sweet, 'Geraniaceae'. vol. 1, 1822, p. 44. Sweet, 'Hortus Britannicus', 1826, p. 80.