The New Sylva: A Discourse of Forest and Orchard Trees for the Twenty-First Century

by Gabriel Hemery, Sarah Simblet

Overview

"Beautiful, useful, inspirational" BBC Wildlife Book of the Month

"A delight on every page" Evening Standard

In 1664, the horticulturist and diarist John Evelyn wrote Sylva, the first comprehensive study of British trees. It was also the world's earliest forestry book, and the first book ever published by the Royal Society. Evelyn's elegant prose has a lot to tell us today, but the world has changed dramatically since his day. Now authors Gabriel Hemery and Sarah Simblet, taking inspiration from the original work, have masterfully created a contemporary version – The New Sylva. The result is a fabulous resource that describes all of the most important species of tree that populate our landscape.

Silvologist Gabriel Hemery explains what trees really mean to us culturally, environmentally and economically in the first part of the book. These chapters are followed by forty-four detailed tree portrait sections that describe the history and the features of trees such as oak, elm, beech, hornbeam, willow, fir, pine, juniper, plane, apple and pear.

The pages of The New Sylva are brought to life with truly breathtaking artwork from artist and co-author Sarah Simblet, who captures the delicacy, strength and beauty of the trees through the seasons in 200 exquisite drawings.

With an interplay of black and red type on creamy paper, The New Sylva recalls all the charm of traditional bookmaking. And at a moment when it is vitally important for us to rediscover how to treasure our trees, the time for this visionary, beautiful book is now.

This edition comes with illustrated endpapers and a ribbon marker.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781526640109
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	12/28/2021
Pages:	400
Product dimensions:	8.37(w) x 10.19(h) x 1.63(d)

About the Author

Gabriel Hemery is a forest scientist and passionate advocate for trees. He co-founded and is currently Chief Executive of Sylva Foundation, a charity caring for forests across Britain. Gabriel has written more than 90 technical articles, cited in 900 articles by other scientists. In 2011–12 he played a lead role in campaigning to save England's public forests. Gabriel regularly contributes to television and radio programmes, and has presented at several literary festivals. His first non-fiction book, The New Sylva, was published to wide acclaim by Bloomsbury in 2014.

www.gabrielhemery.com / @gabrielhemery

Table of Contents

To the Reader vii

Introductory Note Sir Martin Wood FRS ix

Chapter I Of John Evelyn & Sylva 1

Of forestry & the early written word 1

Of seventeenth-century forests 4

Of John Evelyn 8

Of John Evelyn's Sylva 13

The legacy of Sylva 16

Chapter II Of the Earth 19

Of the environment 19

Of the forest 24

Of the tree 31

Chapter III Of the Trees 45

Of the true fir 47

Of the true cedar 53

Of the larch 57

Of the spruce 61

Of the pine 67

Of the Douglas-fir 77

Of the hemlock 80

Of the yew 85

Of the juniper 88

Of the redwood 93

Of the red cedar 99

Of the plane 103

Of the box 107

Of the spindle 110

Of the poplar 114

Of the willow 121

Of the black locust 126

Of the hawthorn 131

Of the quince 135

Of the apple 138

Of the medlar 146

Of the cherry 151

Of the blackthorn plum 156

Of the pear 163

Of the rowan, whitebeam & service-tree 167

Of the buckthorn 172

Of the elm 176

Of the mulberry 182

Of the sweet chestnut 189

Of the beech 197

Of the oak 202

Of the alder 217

Of the birch 223

Of the hornbeam 226

Of the hazel 230

Of the walnut 236

Of the lime 245

Of the maple 249

Of the horse chestnut 254

Of the dogwood 260

Of the ash 264

Of the holly 275

Of the elder 278

Of the guelder-rose & wayfaring tree 282

Chapter IV Of Silviculture & Forest Produce 287

Of people & forests 287

Of forest systems 291

Of new groves 307

Of working the forest 322

Of timber & its uses 329

Of forest produce 339

Chapter V Of Future Forests 343

Of former futurologists 343

Of forests & government 346

Of the green economy 347

Of climate change 349

Of future trees 350

Of a new wood culture 355

Glossary 359

Historical Context 364

Tree Species & Their Authorities 366

A Note on the Illustrations 369

Further Reading 371

Arboriculture, Forestry & Timber Associations 372

Index 374

The Authors 388

Acknowledgements 389

Editorial Reviews

An excellent successor to Sylva, well written and full of interesting information ... The illustrations are magnificent, pen drawings by the great tree artist Sarah Simblet. She has the rare gift of depicting a recognisable leafless tree, a gift that was denied to artists Poussin and Gainsborough” —Oliver Rackham, Spectator

“Sumptuous ... exquisite drawings grace almost every spread. The reader will be beguiled into consuming large sections in a single sitting. It's also a book for dipping into. ... planting trees is an affirmation of faith in the future, and this book will inspire new generations of tree planters, just as the original did” —Gardens Illustrated

“A book that proclaims its virtues with quiet dignity” —Sunday Times

“Glorious” —Sunday Telegraph

“Beautiful, useful and inspirational” —BBC Wildlife Book of the Month

“Exquisite ... eloquently written and beautifully illustrated” —The Lady

“Gorgeous, precious and important” —Resurgence & Ecologist

“Unparalleled understanding of our trees” —Mail on Sunday

“A delight on every page” —Evening Standard

From the Publisher