4 p.l., 24 pp. Small 4to, attractive antique calf, spine gilt, red morocco lettering piece on spine. London: Printed for R. Wodenothe, [1652 or 53?]

First edition of this notable book on fruit culture, part of the growing movement during the Commonwealth towards the improvement of orchards. “The preface is by Samuel Hartlib who here states that the writer of the work was not known to him and that moreover he was unable to discover his name. However, it was said that he was ‘an aged minister of the Gospel’ of Loving-land near Yarmouth, who spent his leisure over a period of many... More about A Designe for Plentie, by an Universall Planting of Fruit-Trees: Tendred by some Wel-wishers to...

Title within typographical border (shaved at foot). 2 p.l., 14 pp., one blank leaf. Small 4to, attractive antique panelled calf (some shaving to bottom line or catchwords on several pages), spine gilt, red morocco lettering piece on spine. London: Printed by J.C., 1651.

First edition. “The Reformed Husbandman…is sometimes attributed to Speed, although it was probably written by Cressy Dymock…It is a pamphlet of some 16 pages and full of moral reflections, a melodious exhortation to industry.”–Fussell, I, p. 45.

“The most visible impact of Hartlib’s circle lay in the numerous pamphlets that he published…They comprised letters and treatises solicited... More about The Reformed Husband-Man; or A Brief Treatise of the Errors, Defects, and Inconveniences of our...

Four folding engraved plates. Four parts in one vol. [all published]. 8vo, cont. half-sheep & paste-paper boards (occasional minor dampstaining, first 40 leaves with two unimportant wormholes in lower outer margin), spine gilt, black leather lettering piece on spine. Leipzig: Roch, 1801.

First edition, all published, of this important mineralogical and geological journal; this set comes from the library of the great geologist and mineralogist Abraham Gottlob Werner (1749-1817), professor at the famous Freiberg Bergakademie. According to D.S.B., VI, p. 456, this is the first “special periodical for geology and mineralogy…Despite the recognition it received, it ceased publication on the death of its... More about Magazin für die gesammte Mineralogie, Geognosie und mineralogische Erdbeschreibung. Verfasst von...

Numerous woodcut illus. in the text. 17; 14; 15; 11 (but numbered 12); 21 folding leaves. Five vols. Small 8vo, orig. patterned wrappers, orig. block-printed title labels on upper covers (several labels a little defective), new stitching. Edo: Tsutaya Juzaburo, 1784.

First edition, and very rare, of this delightful collection of kyoka and other pieces by many of the most prominent Kyoka poets and Kabuki actors of the day, gathered here to commemorate the 60th birthday of the mother of Nanpo Ota (1749-1823). Ota was a high government official, popular writer, and a central literary figure of his time. This work was published during a golden and... More about Roraishi [sub-title: Kyoka kyobun] [trans.: Lao lai zi (the story of a Chinese filial son),...

Engraved folding frontis. & five folding engraved plates. xv, [1], 339 pp. 8vo, orig. grey boards, red leather lettering piece on spine. Munich: J. Lindauer, 1792.

First edition of this collection of sixteen monographs of scientific, natural historical, and practical articles written by the members of a private scientific society established at Ingolstadt, of which Schrank was the informal leader. The authors include Schrank (six essays on ornithology, botany, and geology); Joseph Bernhard Haim, a mining official at Salzburg (chemical and mineralogical observations); Johann Evangelist Helfenzrieder, professor of mathematics at Ingolstadt (on aeronautics and lightning rods); Matthias Brunswiser, physician at Burghausen (on city cemeteries);... More about Abhandlungen einer Privatgesellschaft von Naturforschern und Oekonomen in...