Author: [NURSERY CATALOGUES - NETHERLANDS]. KRELAGE
Title: [Collection of 95 nursery catalogues of E.H. Krelage en Zoon in Haarlem, The Netherlands].Haarlem, 1888-1921. 95 volumes. 4to and two folio. With numerous black and white and occasionally coloured illustrations. Original publisher's printed paper wrappers.
Description: Large collection of catalogues from the renowned Dutch nursery and bulb firm Krelage en Zoon in Haarlem, the best florist of Western Europe. The firm was at the very top of their trade, being the purveyor of the courts of The Netherlands, Italy, Greece, Bavaria, Baden, Luxembourg and Mecklenburg-Schwerin. The company was called 'de Bloemhof', they gained more than 800 medals at world exhibitions and horticultural shows. Among the many new hybrids they've cultivated are the famous Darwin tulips. The floristry has long since completely disappeared. The founder of this floristry was Ernst Heinrich Krelage, a German immigrant who arrived in Haarlem in the year 1804 as an eighteen-year-old young man. Since its foundation in 1811 the company was a success story.The text of the catalogues is mostly in Dutch, some are in English ("Krelage's sensational new tulips") and a few in German. The present collection included some duplicates. One catalogue makes reference to the First World War: "In publishing the present catalog we beg to offer our sincerest thanks to all who have favored us with their orders in former years. We have especially appreciated this continued confidence in the last monts, when our business seriously suffered from the European war and only a small part of the usual supply could be exported. [..] The shipping from Holland to the United States has been continued during the war without any interruption, and all orders can be promptly despatched and delivered without any serious delay". (Krelage 'Special war offer at cheap prices'. Catalog no. 639a, 1915).Catalogues from before 1916 might have been part of the famous E.H. Krelage collection. All catalogues were deduplicated from the library of the Wageningen University & Research. Occasionally slightly soiled, foxed or frayed. Otherwise in good condition.l Iwasa (listing some 150 volumes). European Nursery Catalogue Collection (only 1 volume); for the company and founder: Marian de Haan, Krelage & zoon: van arme immigrant tot wereldfaam, in: Kennemerkroniek. Nieuwsblad van de Archiefdienst voor Kennemerland 4, 2000, pp. 11-14; Ernst H. Krelage, Een eeuw bloembollenteelt. Het honderdjarig bestaan der tuinbouwinrichting ‘Bloemhof’ herdacht, Haarlem, 1911.

Keywords: [L12BKU763RAL] LOW COUNTRIES|[L12BKU763RAL] LOW COUNTRIES -> [L12BR58IHOWV] Natural History & Science|[5091845FC46C] NATURAL HISTORY|[5091845FC46C] NATURAL HISTORY -> [K6JCI3FVCRNR] Horticulture & Forestry|