By Any Other Name: A Cultural History of the Rose

by Simon Morley

Overview

A beautifully illustrated history of the Queen of Flowers and her enduring power in our gardens, art, religion and imagination.

‘Fascinating... I’ll never look at a rose in quite the same way again.’ Adrian Tinniswood

The rose is bursting with meaning. Over the centuries it has come to represent love and sensuality, deceit, death and the mystical unknown. Today the rose enjoys unrivalled popularity across the globe, ever present at life’s seminal moments.

Grown in the Middle East two thousand years ago for its pleasing scent and medicinal properties, it has become one of the most adored flowers across cultures, no longer selected by nature, but by us. The rose is well-versed at enchanting human hearts. From Shakespeare’s sonnets to Bulgaria’s Rose Valley to the thriving rose trade in Africa and the Far East, via museums, high fashion, Victorian England and Belle Epoque France, we meet an astonishing array of species and hybrids of remarkably different provenance.

This is the story of a hardy, thorny flower and how, by beauty and charm, it came to seduce the world.

***

‘Fascinating material, surveyed with relish and acumen.’ Times Literary Supplement

‘Morley’s book is, in part, the story of how humans came to raise roses so consistently and abundantly that we demand them even in freezing February. First, though, By Any Other Name recounts the love affair with a flower that drove us to want to do that in the first place.’ Wall Street Journal

‘An intellectual and artistic journey… digging around the history of how roses have become entangled with human life. By Any Other Name will be a source of inspiration for us.’ Kim Wook-Kyun, President of the South Korea Rose Society

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780861540549
Publisher:	Oneworld Publications
Publication date:	10/07/2021
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	753,075
File size:	7 MB

About the Author

Simon Morley is a British artist and art historian. He is the author of several books and catalogue essays on modern and contemporary art, and his art reviews and essays have been published in numerous magazines and journals, including the TLS, Modern Painters, Tate Magazine, the Independent on Sunday, World Art and Third Text. Previously a lecturer at the Sotheby's Institute and at Winchester School of Art, he is now Assistant Professor of Fine Art at Dankook University, Republic of Korea. He is also a keen rose gardener.

Table of Contents

Preface vii

Introduction 'A rose by any other name' 1

1 'Rosa': Meeting the Family 13

2 'There are many kindes of roses': Living with the Species and the 'Sports' 23

3 'Then bring me showers of roses, bring' Pagan Roses 43

4 'Rose Without Thorns' Monotheistic Roses 56

5 'And so I won my bright red rose' Love and the Rose 73

6 'Gather ye rosebuds while ye may' Death and the Rose 83

7 'Dat Rosa Mel Apibus': Mystical Roses 95

8 'Oh Rose! Who dares to name thee?': Poetic Roses of the Nineteenth Century 105

9 'A Basket of Roses': Painted Roses 119

10 'Parks' Yellow Tea-Scented China' Eastern Roses Go West 135

11 'Pedigree Hybrids of the Tea Rose' Modern Roses 147

12 'The perfect rose is only a running flame' Modernist Roses 163

13 'What is the heart's goal when looking at the garden World?': Rose-Gardens and Gardening 181

14 'Rose N'Roses': The Rose Business 207

15 'Silronzem Rosea': The Rose, Today and Tomorrow 225

Conclusion 'Flower Power' 243

Notes 249

Acknowledgements 279

Index 281

Editorial Reviews

10/11/2021

Art historian Morley (Writing on the Wall) delivers a discursive history of roses, or the “Queen of flowers,” in this meandering take. “All the various cultural associations the rose has accumulated over the centuries are grounded in human encounters with its natural beauty,” he writes, offering a warning that he isn’t “a botanist, horticulturist, or especially devout gardener,” but rather interested in the plant’s cultural associations. Native to the northern hemisphere, he explains, roses were domesticated first in Sumer in 2200 BCE. “Love of the rose spread westwards,” Morley writes, to Greeks and Romans, and the flower was central to pagan beliefs before it was “rebranded” by the Christian church. And though the Bible doesn’t mention roses, they became associated with Christ’s wounds and the Virgin of Guadalupe. Morley examines the rose’s presence in poetry (most famously, the works of Shakespeare), paintings, music, perfumes, and medicines, and his approach has philosophical leanings and an ecological bent; he defines his search for meaning within a “wider contemporary context of ecological crisis,” as people continue to have “devastating” effects on nature. But the work feels wide and shallow, more scattershot than insightful, and it too often reads like a highbrow lecture. While the idea has potential, rose-tinged inspiration is likely to be discovered elsewhere. Agent: Katelynn Dreyer, Kaye Publicity. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

‘Morley’s book is, in part, the story of how humans came to raise roses so consistently and abundantly that we demand them even in freezing February. First, though, By Any Other Name recounts the love affair with a flower that drove us to want to do that in the first place.’

Wall Street Journal

‘From the etymology of its name to the breeders’ search for perfection, via its role in poetry, prose and art, rose growers with a penchant for learning will find this a satisfying read.’

Choice

‘Quite brilliant... A powerful reminder of how humanity simply cannot exist without the support of nature’s beauty represented by this simple shrub.’

Jonny Norton

‘An intellectual and artistic journey... digging around the history of how roses have become entangled with human life. By Any Other Name will be a source of inspiration for us.’

Kim Wook-Kyun

‘Fascinating material, surveyed with relish and acumen.’

Times Literary Supplement

‘Fascinating. Morley moves effortlessly from ancient Greece and Rome to the latest research in neurobiology, taking in alchemy and Pre-Raphaelite art, Modernist poetry and the Grateful Dead along the way. I’ll never look at a rose in quite the same way again.’

Adrian Tinniswood

‘By Any Other Name...explores the many facets that make the rose stand out from the rest. Morley expertly crafts the story of the rose from its humble beginnings to its present reality.’

Washington Gardener

With this lengthy audiobook, listeners have the opportunity to dive into the allegorical and symbolic role of the rose across cultures and centuries. It’s a fitting choice for narrator Jennifer M. Dixon, who sounds like someone you would encounter carefully tending an English rose garden. The audiobook is dense, having the sound of a meticulously researched humanities dissertation or lecture. Dixon’s bland tone and slow pace enhance the soporific effect of the production. Listeners who persevere will be treated to an educational look at the world’s most romantic flower. J.T. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

MARCH 2022 - AudioFile

With this lengthy audiobook, listeners have the opportunity to dive into the allegorical and symbolic role of the rose across cultures and centuries. It’s a fitting choice for narrator Jennifer M. Dixon, who sounds like someone you would encounter carefully tending an English rose garden. The audiobook is dense, having the sound of a meticulously researched humanities dissertation or lecture. Dixon’s bland tone and slow pace enhance the soporific effect of the production. Listeners who persevere will be treated to an educational look at the world’s most romantic flower. J.T. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

MARCH 2022 - AudioFile