Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-Trees and the Propagation of Timber
Encyclopedia
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
writer John Evelyn
John Evelyn
John Evelyn was an English writer, gardener and diarist.Evelyn's diaries or Memoirs are largely contemporaneous with those of the other noted diarist of the time, Samuel Pepys, and cast considerable light on the art, culture and politics of the time John Evelyn (31 October 1620 – 27 February...
was first published in 1662 as a paper to the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
. It was published as a book two years later in 1664 and this is widely recognised as the first published text on forestry
Forestry
Forestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...
.
Editions
- 1662 Sylva Paper was presented to the Royal Society on 16th February 1662.
- 1664 Sylva First edition book printed by publisher John MartynJohn Martyn (publisher)John Martyn, or Martin, was a prominent London publisher and bookseller in the second half of the 17th century.Martyn started in business in 1649, in partnership with John Ridley; their shop was at the sign of the Castle in Fleet Street, near Ram Alley. In 1651, Martyn began an independent...
for the Royal SocietyRoyal SocietyThe Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
. - 1669 Sylva Second Edition. Various engravings added.
- 1679 Sylva Third Edition. Included an essay from Evelyn about soils: Terra, a Philosophical Essay of Earth, being a Lecture in Course.
- 1706 Silva Fourth Edition, now spelt Silva, contained new sections Dendrologia, Pomona; Or, An Appendix concerning Fruit-Trees in relation to CIDER and Kalendarium Hortense. This was the last edition during Evelyn's lifetime.
Posthumous editions
- 1707 Silva edition.
- 1729 Silva edition.
Five editions were edited by Alexander Hunter
Alexander Hunter
-Life:Born at Edinburgh in 1729 , he was eldest son of a prosperous druggist. He was sent to the grammar school at ten, and at fifteen to the university, where he remained until he was twenty-one, having devoted the last three years to medicine...
(1729-1809):
- 1776--illustrations by John Miller
- 1786
- 1801
- 1812
- 1825
Recent reproductions
- A facsimile of the 1664 edition was produced in 1972 by the publisher Scolar Press.
- Another reproduction was printed in 2007 by Kessinger Publishing (30 Nov 2007) with a foreword by John Nisbet.