PREFACE
In
a recent paper(1) an account was presented of the life and work of
William Casson of Thorne. This includes information on the
establishment of 'Casson's Garden' on the edge of Thorne Moors, which
was subsequently developed into a commercial enterprise by William and
his brother John Calvert Casson. In the paper, details are given of
this latter venture, which included the publication of a horticultural
stock list in 1872(2).To augment the details recently published, and
to preserve otherwise unobtainable data which have a relevance in and
beyond Thorne, this issue of the Thorne Local History Society's
Occasional Papers presents the verbatim text of that stock list. All
original details and spellings, except diphthongs, are retained. The
List's front cover is here reproduced, the ensuing original title-page
being identical except that it lacks the ornate border(3). On turning
the page, the reader is presented with a hand-coloured engraving of
Lawsons Cypress Chamaecyparis lawsoniana c.v.Erecta Viridis, entitled
'Cupressus Lawsoniana Erectus Viridis.The pamphlet had 14 pages and on
the back cover had an elaborate engraving advertising 'Goulding's
Flower & Plant Food',the names 'W.&I.C.Casson' printed in a
space towards the base of the design.
The
whole publication was produced by Joseph Mason, whose premises were in
the Market Place, Thorne. He succeeded S.Whaley, the printer and
publisher of the first (1829) edition of William Casson's The History
and Antiquities of Thorne. Mason also published both an address by
Casson for the Thorne Literary and Scientific Association in 1842(4),
and the later editions (1869,1874) of Casson's History of Thorne.
1.
M.Limbert (1991) William Casson of Thorne. Naturalist .
2.
Copies of the list which were issued in (at least) 1874 had an extra
sheet tipped in, and this is transcribed separately here, at the close
of the main stock listing.
3.
This border had been used by the printer, Joseph Mason, on the
title-page of the 1869 edition of william casson's the History and
Antiquities of Thorne.
4.
Limbert (1991) op.cit.
