1 p.l., 20 pp. Small 4to, attractive half-calf & marbled boards, spine gilt, red morocco lettering piece on spine, several lower edges uncut. London: S. & B. G[riffin] for N. Brooke, 1671.

First edition and a nice copy. This work has been attributed by many to Sir John Pettus (ca. 1613-85), natural philosopher and politician, but this is probably erroneous. Sainfoin is a highly nutritious plant, which served as an important forage for livestock.

“A most interesting little book…whoever wrote it knew what he was talking about, and had evidently made himself thoroughly acquainted with the peculiarities and value of the plant as... More about St. Foine Improved, a Discourse shewing the Utility and Benefit which England hath and may...

Seven folding engraved plates. xv, [1], 138, [3] pp. 8vo, cont. vellum over boards (head & foot of spine a little worn, vellum a little warped), spine lettered in gilt. Casale: G.A. Meardi, 1764.

[bound with]:

RATTI, Alfonso. Nuova Giunta…cioé Descrizione de’ cambiamenti fatti al Seminatore con i quali esso si è reso più semplice. One folding engraved plate, numbered “8.” 45, [1] pp. 8vo. Casale: G.A. Meardi, 1766. More about Trattato della Seminazione de’ Campi, e della Coltivazione de’ Prati

Title within typographical border. 8 p.l., 303 pp. Small 4to, 18th-cent. mottled calf (carefully rebacked by Trevor Lloyd, some occasional browning & soiling), spine gilt, red morocco lettering piece on spine. London: J.M. for R. Wodnothe, 1655.

Third edition, greatly enlarged (1st ed.: 1651), of one of Hartlib’s most substantial works, consisting chiefly of letters to Hartlib by Cressy Dymock and Robert Child. “The Legacie deals with a large variety of subjects, among which are Saint Foine; Ploughs and Carriages; Digging, Setting and Howing; Smut and Mildew; Orchards; Hemp and Flax; Manuring; Bees; Silke-worms; the general ignorance, and various experiments, etc. The... More about Samuel Hartlib his Legacy of Husbandry. Wherein are bequeathed to the Common-wealth of England,...

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...

Engraved vignette on title, seven folding engraved plates, & one engraved headpiece. 6 p.l., 84 pp. Large 4to, cont. vellum over boards (a little warped). Naples: G. Raimondi, 1754.

First edition of the great economist’s work on the conservation and preservation of grains. This edition was published under the name of Bartolommeo Intieri (1676-1757), economist, engineer, and mathematician, who had furnished his friend Galiani with the ideas on methods to prevent grain from being contaminated by insects. Intieri proposed that grain be dried in a heated kiln. This process would dissipate bad odors, eliminate humidity, kill most insects, and check the tendency of... More about Della Perfetta conservazione del Grano. Discorso di Bartolommeo Intieri

Title within typographical border (border cropped at foot and catchword on A2 shaved). 3 p.l., 17 pp. Small 4to, attractive antique calf, spine gilt, red morocco lettering piece on spine. London: Printed H. Hills, 1651.

First edition of one of the first suggestions of the need to establish a school of agriculture in Britain. While various scholars have attributed this work to Samuel Hartlib (favored by McDonald), or Gabriel Plattes (favored by Fussell), it is now generally presumed that Cressy Dymock (fl. 1629-60), is the author. Hartlib, who served as the editor, has signed the four-page “To the Reader.”

“The book was inspired by the highest moral sentiments, as might be expected in that Puritan age. All misery, it declares, is due to the narrowness of our spirit and because our hearts are not enlarged above ourselves… it was nearly three hundred years before men were moved to action and to the founding of a University Chair in Agriculture and the Royal College of Agriculture.”–Fussell, I, pp. 44-45. More about An Essay for Advancement of Husbandry-Learning, or Propositions for the Erecting a Colledge of...

20 pp. 8vo, 19th-century brown half-cloth & marbled boards (spine a trifle rubbed), title on spine, spine gilt. [S.l.: 1737].

One of the very rare contemporary manuscript sale catalogues of the painting collection of the comtesse de Verrue (1670-1736), one of history’s greatest collectors of art as well as books. It is annotated with nearly all prices and a few buyers’ names. According to Lugt, there are no known printed catalogues of this sale of paintings — most likely never printed — and the Getty Provenance Index records 14 extant manuscript copies, all in institutional libraries, except this example.

“Verrue, may be best known today as Alexandre Dumas’s fictive dame volupté, a sobriquet she reputedly created and one that has too easily obscured her crucial role in the art world of early eighteenth-century Paris. She had the social confidence to renounce the traditional pattern of collecting that Crozat had eagerly embraced and turned from ‘serious’ Italian paintings to ‘petits sujets,’ bucolic landscapes, and amorous mythologies, primarily by painters of the Northern and French schools. Like Crozat, she shaped a remarkable and widely admired dwelling that was central to her identity and famous during her lifetime. The importance of each house was enhanced by the way it functioned. Each became a key site of artistic discourse, a place where art lovers and artists assembled, and a locus for assessing competing systems of value, where distinctive outlooks were forged, defined, and absorbed.”–Rochelle Ziskin, Sheltering Art (2012), p. 2. More about Manuscript drop-titles]: Catalogue des Tableaux de Madame la Comtesse de Verrue dont la Vente a...

19th-cent. russia, sides panelled in gilt & blind, gilt arms in center of the Pelham-Clinton family. Italy, perhaps Tuscany: early 15th century.

A fine manuscript, from the celebrated library of the dukes of Newcastle in Clumber, of this important fourth-century Roman treatise on agriculture. It enjoyed wide popularity in the Middle Ages and early Renaissance, owing to its clear arrangement, with the farming and gardening tasks subdivided according to the twelve months of the year. It “was clearly more useful than that of any of Palladius’ predecessors. This fact alone may explain the preservation of his text and its popularity compared... More about Manuscript on vellum of Opus Agriculturae, 112 leaves (the first blank), small 4to (155 x 115...

Large woodcut on title of an astronomer studying an armillary sphere in front of a starry sky by Hans Burgkmair & nine woodcuts in the text. 40 unnumbered leaves. Small 4to, cont. limp vellum, title written in a contemporary hand on upper cover, with the orig. nine-link chain attached to the lower cover with the orig. chain swivel & ring at other end, orig. deerskin ties. Augsburg: V. Otmar, 1548.

A fine copy of the “first German encyclopedia” of general knowledge, here bound in a very remarkable chained binding. Most surviving chained bindings are substantial folios; our example is a smaller format book with... More about M. Elucidarius von allerhand geschöpffen Gottes, den Engeln, den Himeln, Gestirns, Planeten, und...

One full-page woodcut illus. & music printing. 16 folding leaves. 8vo, orig. wrappers, orig. block-printed title label on upper cover (rubbed), new stitching. [Japan]: ca. 1684-1704.

First edition and, apparently, unique; no copy is located in WorldCat or Union Catalogue of Japanese Books. The miyogiri is a type of shakuhachi, an end-blown three-node bamboo flute with five finger holes. The various types of shakuhachi flutes have been some of Japan’s most popular instruments. They were brought from China in the 8th century and became popular in 17th-century Japan when they were adopted by itinerant Buddhist beggar priests (komuso) of the Fuke sect... More about From the block-printed title label on upper cover: Rangyoku miyogiri shoshinsho [Detailed...

iv, 51, [1] pp. 8vo, attractive antique calf-backed marbled boards, spine gilt, red morocco lettering piece on spine. London: B. White and Son et al., 1788.

First edition. Land enclosure in 18th-century Britain was highly controversial: it consolidated small landholdings into larger farms, ceasing to be common land for communal use. Oftentimes, landowners, including the Church, were not adequately compensated upon suffering enclosure on their properties.

Turner (1739-1826), took his degree at Emmanuel College, Cambridge and was rector of Wing. This work was written on the occasion of the enclosure of one of his livings, given to him by the Crown in 1788... More about An Argumentative Appeal addressed to the Right Reverend the Bishops, and the Body of Parochial...

103 pp. 8vo, cont. marbled boards (carefully rebacked in calf), spine gilt, red morocco lettering piece on spine. Edinburgh: Printed for the Author, 1783.

First edition and quite scarce. “This excellent practical treatise, the last chapter of which is devoted to the forcing of vines, was published in an enlarged edition in 1787. The author, Thomas Kyle, gardener to David Stewart Moncrieff of Moredun, near Edinburgh, was considered by Loudon to be one ‘of the first gardeners in Scotland of his time.’ The owner of Moredun, David Stewart Moncrieff (1710-90)…purchased the estate of Goodtrees, about three miles from Edinburgh…It is recorded that... More about A Treatise on the Management of Peach and Nectarine Trees; either in Forcing-Houses, or on Hot...