The Black Tulip

First published in 1850, this novel opens in the Dutch Republic in 1672 with the lynching of the brothers Johan and Cornelis de Witt. Cornelius van Baerle, a Haarlem tulip-grower and godson of Cornelis, is imprisoned after a political denunciation by his neighbor and rival Isaac Boxtel, just as he nears a black tulip that would win a civic prize. Rosa, the jailer's daughter, hides the bulbs and shares his care of the plant. William of Orange and the city's tulip committee stand in the background. The book is a historical romance of politics and horticulture, not a manual of breeding.

Quarter bound in blue cloth over picture pattern decorated cream boards. Plain black slipcase.