Philip Miller was one of the most important English botanists in the eighteenth century, serving for 50 years as chief gardener of the Chelsea Physic Garden. Miller corresponded with a large number of botanists across Europe and in the Americas, introducing new and exotic species to Britain. At Chelsea, he trained William Aiton, who would go on to become head gardener at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, and William Forsyth, who would become chief gardener of Kensington Palace and St James’s Palace.

In 1731, Miller published the first edition of his Gardener’s Dictionary. The book would become very popular and he would continue to edit and publish new editions throughout his life. This posthumous 1807 edition was edited by the naturalist Thomas Martyn.