Good reference book - The American Fruit culturist by John Thomas

Just found this while googling the qualities of obscure pear varieties. Only available as print-on-demand by Amazon, but much of the useful information available on the sample

The American Fruit Culturist - Select List of Fruits

Beurré gris d'Hiver nouveau: set

A disappointing sole fruitlet on my Beurré gris d'Hiver nouveau stepover this year despite the copious blossom and wide range of pollinators. Perhaps not surprising as it was only planted last year as a maiden. Still very pleasing to see home-grafted trees coming into production, albeit modest.

Beurré gris d'Hiver (sometimes 'nouveau') appears to be distinct from Beurré gris (syn. Brown Beurre). This description is from 'The fruit manual' by Hogg (1860):

"Beurre Gris d'Hiver (Beurre Gris d' Hiver Nouveau; Beurre de Lucon).—Fruit large, roundish. Skin entirely covered with thin brown russet, and tinged with brownish-red next the sun. Eye small, set in a very shallow basin. Stalk short and thick, inserted in a small cavity. Flesh white, melting and juicy, sugary and slightly perfumed.

A good late pear when grown in a warm situation, but otherwise coarse-grained and gritty. Ripe from January till March. It is best from a wall."

The Fruit Manual, Robert Hogg, 1860

I hope the singleton survives so I can find out whether Hogg was right or not.

Fondante d'Automne: Blossom

Another relatively-early one. Not quite such beautiful or generous blossom as the others described, but does go well with the earlies for pollination purposes. Buds opened around April 3rd this year.

For some reason, I chose to grow this one as a spiral pyramid. I'm not sure of the decorative effect, but it does respond to training very well, as growth is slow and compact, and spurs are very freely produced. Cropping has been precocious and fairly heavy for a young tree so far.

According to Bunyard this cultivar was raised by "M. Fievée at Mauberg before 1825."