Joan Morgan PhD is a pomologist and fruit historian,
internationally renowned for her work on apples. In recognition of
her work, Joan has been awarded the Royal Horticultural Society's
Vetch Memorial Medal (for contributions to the advancement of the
'science and practice of horticulture'), she is one of only 50
recipients of the Institute of Horticulture 'Award for Outstanding
Services to Horticulture' and is an Honorary Freeman of the
Worshipful Company of Fruiterers. She is Chairman of the RHS Fruit
Trials Forum and Vice Chairman of the RHS Fruit, Vegetable and Herb
Committee.
Joan Morgan is the author, with Alison Richards, of The Book of
Apples, The New Book of Apples, A Paradise out of a Common Field:
the pleasures and plenty of the Victorian garden, and a main
contributor to The Downright Epicure, Essays on Edward
Bunyard.
She has devoted many years researching and compiling The Book of
Pears.
Booklist- "Who knew? This elegant, all-knowing compendium on all
things pear is a boon companion to pomologist and fruit historian
Morgan’s The Book of Apples (1994), among other
fruit-centered histories. It’s truly intended as a reference, even
for those culinarians intent on mastering the best information on
pears. Much of the narrative traces the fruit’s transit from 1000
BC in the Yangtze Valley to today’s world distribution, documenting
its role in various lands and in literature. In addition to Dowle’s
realistic and detailed watercolors, innumerable historic
photographs and illustrations grace the book’s pages. One-third of
the book is occupied by a catalog of 500-plus varieties, from the
former USSR’s Abas Beki to a French Zoe, based on the Defra
National Fruit Collection, in Kent, with each entry including the
cropping level, when-to-pick ripening season, vigor, use (culinary
versus eating), size, shape, color, eye, basin, stalk, cavity,
flesh, flower, and tree. A thorough investigation of one wonderful
fruit.”
Choice- "This comprehensive, highly specialized work discusses
everything one might want to know about pears. The first section
contains a complete history of the fruit, including about 90
reproductions of historic images featuring the pear. The following
section is a directory documenting all pear varieties in the Defra
National Fruit Collection in Kent, England, featuring well over 500
kinds, along with complete descriptions, season, use, tasting
notes, and cultivation information. Artist Dowle, an extremely
talented illustrator of fruit who earlier collaborated with
pomologist Morgan on the Book of Apples (1993), presents
40 precise color illustrations of pear flowers, fruit, and
branches. Their evident love for the pear yields a gorgeous volume.
The detailed history could use additional editing, but it covers
the subject in eight well-documented chapters. A key to pear
identification and short essays on cooking and growing pears
complete the volume. Due to its focus on the Defra collection, the
work will appeal primarily to the clientele of specialized
horticultural and art libraries. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate
students and researchers/faculty; horticulturalists.”
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