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The New Sylva

A discourse of forest & orchard trees for the twenty-first century. Gabriel Hemery & Sarah Simblet. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2014. 400pp. ISBN 1408835444.

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As sponsors of The New Sylva we are delighted to offer signed copies of this first edition.

A detailed & sumptuous celebration of Britain's trees & forests, John Evelyn's Sylva, published by the Royal Society in 1664, was the world's first comprehensive study of trees. Inspired by the original, silvologist Gabriel Hemery and artist Sarah Simblet have created this breathtaking contemporary version. Intertwining science, art and history, and illustrated with over 200 exquisite drawings, The New Sylva describes the tree species that play a significant role in today's society, and offers a deep and enriching understanding of our orchards and forests.

We are the only online source to offer the book personally signed by author Gabriel Hemery.

All proceeds will go towards our charitable work caring for forests.

The New Sylva

signed by author Gabriel Hemery

Note that the shrink wrapping, in which the books are supplied by the publishers, will be removed to permit signing.
Please allow up to two weeks for delivery.

£54.00
free P&P*

Gift vouchers - courses at Sylva Wood Centre

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The Sylva Wood Centre offers short courses in woodworking, forestry and rural management, outdoor learning and other subjects.

These courses are held by experts in their field using the specialist facilities of the Wood Centre in Oxfordshire which is set in an attractive landscape including a young forest, outdoor education area and community orchard.

View current course schedule

Gift vouchers can be redeemed by the recipient in part payment for any advertised course and makes the perfect gift for Christmas, birthdays or special occasions.

£50.00
free P&P*

Gift voucher terms & conditions

Original prints from The New Sylva

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The New Sylva by Gabriel Hemery and Sarah Simblet - published to wide acclaim by Bloomsbury in 2014 - contains 200 stunning pen and ink drawings, including whole-tree portraits, botanical parts and forest scenes. They were drawn by internationally-renowned artist Sarah Simblet while she was artist-in-residence for environmental charity the Sylva Foundation. Just 14 remain available for sale.

Sarah Simblet rarely sells her work as prints. This represents a unique investment and a special opportunity for fans of her stunning drawings. Each print will be signed by Sarah Simblet, and accompanied by an attractive Certificate of Authenticity, signed by both authors of The New Sylva.

book page	name	size (mm) (w×h)	caption	Price
60	Female Norway spruce cones	250×290	Female cones of Norway spruce grow to fifteen centimetres long and become pale brown and distinctively pendent as they mature, often visible below the upward-sweeping boughs. Female cones grow high up in a tree's canopy, while males occur on the lowest branches to minimise self-pollination. This stem was collected by an arborist who climbed to the top of a tree at Westonbirt Arboretum in Gloucestershire.	£80
71	Macedonian pine seedling & cone	200×240	Two-year-old Macedonian pine seedling found growing on a steep slope at Brechfa Forest Gardens in Carmarthenshire. Bottom right: Mature female cone from a nearby parent tree.	£80
75	Radiata pine cone	150×200	Mature female woody cones of radiata pine are strong, oval and grow to fifteen centimetres long. Forming close against and oblique to the stem, they point downwards, arranged side by side in thick rings. Cones can remain on the tree for twenty years.	£70
112	Spindle leaves & fruits	500×270	Spindle grows opposite pairs of elliptic leaves, which frame their green-white, fourpetalled flowers in spring. Pod-like fruits, formed of four or five valves, can be seen developing along this branch. Pale green at first, they will turn red-pink in autumn and split open to reveal bright orange seeds. Fruits remain after leaf fall and can form a prized feature in festive wreaths.	£125
134	Quince fruit	230×280	Quince (Cydonia oblonga) fruit is hairy when immature, becoming smooth-skinned and yellow when ripe. Like other pomes (such as apples and pears), quinces are false fruits, because their edible flesh is the swollen end of the flower stalk, not the ovary (true fruit), which is the core. Quince fruit displays a large calyx at its base, which formerly held the petals of the flower.	£90
174	Purging buckthorn branch & fruits	550×260	Twigs, branches and leaves of purging buckthorn are opposite, although sometimes slightly out of step. Its glossy leaves are ovate with a short point, and have a distinctive pattern of long arching veins that appear to meet at the tip. This aids in recognising the species, although dogwood displays a similar pattern (see pp.262–3). The small and pale green flowers of purging buckthorn appear in spring, followed by generous clusters of glossy black fruits.	£125
181	Elm bark beetle gallery	80×240	The undersurface of bark from a dead English elm tree shows the gallery of channels made by numerous larvae of the elm bark beetle (Scolytus scolytus) eating their way outwards from the central line where their adult parent deposited its eggs. [ 1 ] Gallery. [ 2 ] Life-size larva. [ 3 ] Life-size adult beetles. [ 4 ] Enlarged drawing of larva. [ 5 ] Enlarged drawings of adult beetles.	£60
187	Black mulberry & leaves	90×140	Top left: Black mulberry sprig showing male and female flowers. Leaves are coarsely hairy, heart-shaped, bright green and occasionally lobed. Inconspicuous male [ 1 ] and female [ 2 ] flowers cluster on separate catkins on the same tree. Male catkins shed pollen and die. Pollinated females develop into aggregate fruits. Top right: White mulberry leaves seen here are ovate, with a rounded tip. They are from an old tree. Leaves can also be deeply lobed, and may be pointed on younger trees. Male [ 3 ] and female [ 4 ] catkins occur on the same tree. Bottom right: White mulberry fruits and leaves. Bottom left: Soft and sweet black mulberry fruits. Each one is an aggregate, meaning that it is formed from many individual fruits joined together. Much larger leaves have been clipped away in this drawing.	£60
238	Walnut leaves & male catkins	450×270	Common walnut has large pinnate leaves with five to nine leaflets. Male and female flowers are produced on the same tree. Spherical females have pairs of feathered stigmas protruding from their tips and are produced on new spring shoots.	£100
256	Horse chestnut foliage & flowers	490×320	Above: A stem displays crescent-shaped and dotted leaf scars where old leaf vessels were once connected. Its large leaves surround a vertical raceme of white flowers that blush red after pollination. Right: On flushing, the glossy, sticky bud scales of horse chestnut peel back into a rosette as new shoots emerge, covered in thick fur.	£100
314	Common pear fruit	330×250	Common pear (Pyrus communis), like apple and quince, produces a type of fleshy fruit called a pome. It is botanically classified as a false fruit, because the outer edible flesh is the swollen end of a flower stalk and not an ovary. The ovary is the core containing the seed. Pear flesh also contains stone cells, which give it a gritty texture. This fruit was collected from the same tree shown flowering on pp.10–11.	£90
viii	"Bramley's Seedling" apples	270×320	"Bramley's Seedling' apples were originally grown from seed by a young girl, Mary Ann Brailsford, in the Nottinghamshire town of Southwell, between 1809 and 1813. They were named by a subsequent owner of her home, Matthew Bramley, who permitted local nurseryman Henry Merryweather to propagate the first grafts. The fruits drawn here were growing on old trees in the nearby village of Costock.	£80

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The New Sylva

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The New Sylva prints

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The New Sylva

As sponsors of The New Sylva we are delighted to offer signed copies of this first edition.

The New Sylva

signed by author Gabriel Hemery

Gift vouchers - courses at Sylva Wood Centre

Original prints from The New Sylva