The Quest for the Rose - Roger Phillips & Martyn Rix

The Quest for the Rose is both a record of the history of this most beautiful and evocative of flowers and the most highly illustrated practical reference guide to over 1000 roses throughout history.
The first chapters look at the rose in myth and art and trace its mysterious origins in the ancient Middle East. First depicted 4000 years ago, on the walls of the palace of Minos in Crete, it reached a peak of popularity in classical Greece and Rome. In Europe it was associated with the Virgin Mary during medieval times - and it was also a regal symbol that became synonymous with war. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the rose was much favoured by the Dutch flower painters for the lavishness of its blooms while the early nineteenth century saw a revolution in its cultivation, inspired by the Empress Josephine. In Persia Omar Khayyￃﾡm asked that his tomb should be 'where the north wind may blow roses on it', and in China roses have been used in medicine for thousands of years.
Name written in front; otherwise almost perfect condition

Condition: Like New