Oblong 8vo (213 x 136 mm). 92 chromolithographic plates signed J. W. Thompson; one plate signed D. M. Dewey. (Some overall toning and staining, a few captions shaved, a few plates excised.) Original morocco gilt (rebacked, lacking clasp). 

Agricultural trade catalogue with an extensive collection of plates, comprising: 49 fruit plates including apples, pears, peaches, grapes, plums, currants, strawberries, and other berries; 35 flower plates including roses, clematis, wisteria, quinquefolia, honeysuckle, althea, hydrangea, lilies, quince; 9 tree and hedge plates including Judas' tree, weeping birch, weeping willow, purple fringe, weeping linden, weeping elm, and spruce. 

John Wrigley Thompson began producing color plates in approximately 1876; his advertisement in an 1876 directory reads: "We are prepared to manufacture first class plates for nurserymen, twenty percent less than any other establishment in town, and fully equal, if not superior in quality." The plates include information about the fruit or plant's common name and information about the properties of the plant.