WHILE the county enjoys the apple harvest, interest has been revived in the Herefordshire Pomona, a unique and rare Victorian encyclopaedia of apples and pears.

The original works, undertaken by Herefordshire botanists The Woolhope Club during the 1800s, have been published as a new facsimile edition by London publishers The Folio Society.

At the launch event at Dewsall Court on October 1, in gratitude of their efforts, a copy of the new Pomona was presented to The Woolhope Club president Jean O'Donnell.

Major Patrick Darling DL, high sherriff of Herefordshire, was in attendance and spoke of the importance of these great works of Victorian art and their importance to the county.

Guests included local apple and pear growers, cider makers and representatives from Bulmers, Westons and The Bulmer Foundation.

The Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club originally commissioned the work in 1874, having noted the sad decline of Herefordshire’s orchards.

The book was painstakingly illustrated by Alice Ellis and Edith Bull. The Herefordshire Pomona is perhaps first and foremost an important work of botanical art, and one of the loveliest printed books ever published in this country.

Original editions of the Pomona are rare and can fetch as much as £12,000 at auction. It is hoped that the new edition of the Pomona, which is priced at a much more affordable £395, will allow many more people to enjoy the exquisite artwork and accounts of rural life in Herefordshire during the 1800s.

For more information, visit http://www.foliosociety.com/press/the-herefordshire-pomona/.