Reginald Farrer (1880–1920) was a British plantsman, plant explorer, & prolific writer who was one of the first to promote rock gardening and alpine plants. The text of Mimpish Squinnies consists of fourteen plant descriptions from Farrer’s The English Rock Garden and are of plants that he particularly disliked and described as only he could, with humor, wit, acerbity and anthropomorphism. The title of the book, Mimpish Squinnies, uses two of the many, almost nonsense, words that Farrer employs in some of his descriptions. Accompanying the text are fourteen full-color plant portraits using his descriptions as inspiration along with the structure of the actual plant plus a portrait of Farrer with a short biographical note.
15 full-page multi-block color and hand-colored relief engravings by Abigail Rorer. Introduction by Maureen Sanderson. Design and text printed by Michael Russem of Kat Ran Press, Florence, Massachusetts. Fairbank type set by Michael & Winifred Bixler, Skaneateles, New York. Text printed on Kozo papers in the French fold style. Binding by Mark Tomlinson of Easthampton, Massachusetts. Bound with a handmade plant fiber paper over boards with a green leather spine and label & enclosed in a clamshell case covered in Chinese silk with a leather spine label. 11 x 6.5. 28 pages. Edition: 30 regular with 10 deluxe. All editions sold out.
