389: Epic 7-Volume Compendium on North American Apples w/Daniel Bussey

Author Daniel J. Bussey's "The Illustrated History to Apples in the United States and Canada"

The Illustrated History of Apples in the United States and Canada is a seven-volume set of books that documents the history of apples in North America written by Daniel J. Bussey. The book was edited by Kent Whealy and published in 2016 by JAK KAW Press LLC. 

Daniel J. Bussey

The set covers over 16,000 apple varieties, including nearly 10,000 synonyms and 1,400 watercolor paintings. Each volume is between 500 and 600 pages long and weighs 32 pounds (14.515 kg).

In 2018 this compendium received the Literary Award by the Council of Botanical and Horticultural libraries.

Dan was inspired by Fred Lape’s book Apples and Man. Another key literature source was John Ashton Warner’s American Pomology (1867). The bibliography with line drawings of apples resulted in developing links with a network of book dealers and a rather exhaustive delving into historic documents, that predated the internet, right across the USA in the archives of fruit and horticulture societies.

In this Chat with Dan Bussey

• Dan’s journey to apples
• What propelled Bussey to write this book?
•  How he gathered the info for researching this topic
•  What readers can expect to find in the book
•  How to use the book
  • Why the synonyms are important in this series.
• How many apples in the book – how many apples known today (worldwide)
•  Favorite stories from writing the book
• Favorite apples?

Contact Daniel J. Bussey

Go to the contact page for JAK KAW Press https://www.jakkawpress.com/order

Mention in this Cider Chat

• New England Botanical Orchard at Tower Hill – Massachusetts
• CiderCon 2024 January 15-19th, 2024 Portland Oregon
• Artisans by Cider Summit| Portland, Oregon January 20, 2024
• Oregon Cider Week January 13-20, 2024
• Totally Cider Tours – France – listen to past episodes and get on the wait list for the 2024 tour!
• https://ciderchat.com/podcast/338french1/
• https://ciderchat.com/podcast/339bustour2/