Over the past four centuries botanists and gardeners in the British Isles have gathered, maintained and propagated many varying species of plants. Their work has been documented in innumerable books and articles which are often difficult to trace. The Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturalists represents a time-saving reference source for those who wish to discover more about the lives and achievements of the horticulturalists listed. The dictionary's utility comes not only from indicating the major publications of the named authors, but also the location of their herbaria and manuscripts.; The previous 1977 edition of the Dictionary has for many years been a much used source of information for botanists, botanic artists and archivists. In this revised edition the scope has been expanded to include among its 13,000 entries flower painters in addition to botanical artists over 1400 entries and, for the first time, garden designers.; Finally the Dictionary should have international appeal since so many botanists and gardeners worked on collective plants overseas, in particular in North America and the British Commonwealth.; Each entry gives, wherever possible, details of dates and places of birth and death, educational qualifications, professional posts, honours and awards, publications, location of plant collections, manuscripts, drawings and portraits. Its main function, however, is to provide further biographical references to books and periodicals. Comprehensive classified indices facilitate access by professions and activities, countries, and plant interests.

Solitude has always had an ambivalent status: the capacity to enjoy being alone can make sociability bearable, but those predisposed to solitude are often viewed with suspicion or pity. Drawing on a wide array of literary and historical sources, David Vincent explores how people have conducted themselves in the absence of company over the last three centuries. He argues that the ambivalent nature of solitude became a prominent concern in the modern era. For intellectuals in the romantic age, solitude gave respite to citizens living in ever more complex modern societies. But while the search for solitude was seen as a symptom of modern life, it was also viewed as a dangerous pathology: a perceived renunciation of the world, which could lead to psychological disorder and anti-social behaviour. Vincent explores the successive attempts of religious authorities and political institutions to manage solitude, taking readers from the monastery to the prisoner’s cell, and explains how western society’s increasing secularism, urbanization and prosperity led to the development of new solitary pastimes at the same time as it made traditional forms of solitary communion, with God and with a pristine nature, impossible. At the dawn of the digital age, solitude has taken on new meanings, as physical isolation and intense sociability have become possible as never before. With the advent of a so-called loneliness epidemic, a proper historical understanding of the natural human desire to disengage from the world is more important than ever. The first full-length account of its subject, A History of Solitude will appeal to a wide general readership.