HIST: Harrison Omnibus: Details

Greetings, all.

My thanks to Dorothy for making supportive noises about my new book from 
HIPS, which is entitled "The Rev. C. S. Harrison and the Genus 'Iris', an 
Illustrated Omnibus." Dorothy always does a wonderful job as HIPS Publications 
Chairman. 

As Dorothy mentioned, this book is a collection of writings by and about 
Charles Simmons Harrison, who was, let it be said loudly and with bells on, a 
fascinating individual, and the iris-mad great-uncle we in the American world of 
irises never knew we had! He had the charisma of a rock star, and his story is 
one you will not have heard before--unless you read some of it in ROOTS.

I am Anner Whitehead, intermittently a member of this venerable list, and I 
thought perhaps I might pop up and add a few more details to what Dorothy has 
said about the Omnibus, harp on some of the finer selling points, as 'twere.

This is how the book came into being: I got curious about Harrison because I 
was trying to find out what was happening with irises in the USA in the first 
decade of the twentieth century, which is when hardy perennials generally 
started coming into their own. Harrison was only one of several folks who 
interested me. Now, it was obvious from the notes in the Check Lists that Ethel 
Peckham knew he had been important, but equally obvious she did not know many 
particulars. 

When I finished my research, I was amazed: here was a whole chapter of 
American iris history as yet untold! In the beginning we did not just have Saint 
Bertrand of Wyomissing pushing the Rainbow Flower, no, we had Bertrand Farr in 
the East, Mrs. Dean in California, and also C. S. Harrison in the Midwest. There 
were others.

I wrote up Harrison's story for ROOTS. Of course, it was too long to publish 
with notes and bibliography, so Dorothy and I decided to experiment, try to 
pull together an original Print On Demand book, which would be introduced by the 
article in full, and include all sorts of interesting stuff. I had to dig 
deep and wide to find some material, much of it vanishing rare. I also included 
in the book full texts of both the iris Manuals, and the iris section of 
Harrison's own 1913 commercial catalog, all three of which provide many useful 
descriptions of older irises. 

Anyway, I thought perhaps you might like to know that the book has 255 pages, 
and is a combination of good photocopy, laser printing, and color photocopy. 
It is printed entirely on 24 pound paper (8.5" x11") between aged parchment 
and black heavy stock covers. It is securely bound with black plastic (Kinko's 
Velo) between mylar protective sheets. There are quite a few illustrations, and 
three pages of color illustrations, including a reproduction of a 
chromolithograph of bearded irises that was featured in the 1909 iris Manual. The book is 
a simple production, yes, but it is not a cheap production, and I don't think 
it looks like one.

As I said in my Introduction: "Consistent with the practice of the Rev. C. S. 
Harrison, our intent has been to make available at modest cost an abundance 
of interesting and useful information for the benefit of students of the Iris, 
and all others who may need it, or enjoy it."

Dorothy and I thank you for your interest in our project.

Cordially,

Anner M. Whitehead 
Richmond, VA USA
"Let this be your motto, have it engrained in your soul, 'Beauty is Wealth.'" 
The Rev. C. S. Harrison, York NE, (1832-1919).




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