A Letter upon the early Cultivation of Botany in England - 1772

Description

" A Letter from Dr. Ducarel, F. R. S. and F. S. A. to William Watson, M. D. F. R. S. upon the early Cultivation of Botany in England; and some Particulars about John Tradescant, a great Promoter of that Science, as well as Natural History, in the last Century, and Gardener to King Charles I"
, was read to the Royal Society on November 2, 1772. The paper discusses the history of the science of Botany into the centuries before the then-believed "birth" of the science in the Sixteenth century.
The item is a First Edition, extracted and disbound from The Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Vol. 63, Part I For the Year 1773, pages 79-88, with two accompanying extended plates. This volume of the transactions was published in London in 1774. The disbound item is approximately 6 1/4 x 8 1/2 inches and in good condition, with pages tanned but the text and illustrations clear and easily read.  The illustrations above show the first page of the paper, while the following illustrations are of the extended plates.
Andrew Coltée Ducarel
(9 June 1713 – 29 May 1785), was an English antiquary, librarian, and archivist. He was also a lawyer practicing civil law (a "civilian"), and a member of the College of Civilians. He was admitted a fellow of the Royal Society of London on 18 February 1762. [Wikipedia]
William Watson, FRS
(3 April 1715 – 10 May 1787) was an English physician and scientist who was born and died in London. His early work was in in botany, and he helped to introduce the work of Carolus Linnaeus into England. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1741 and vice president in 1772. [Wikipedia]
John Tradescant the elder
(c. 1570s – 15–16 April 1638), father of John Tradescant the younger, was an English naturalist, gardener, collector and traveler, probably born in Suffolk, England. [Wikipedia]