Two scrolls, measuring 290 x 6540 mm. & 290 x 6870 mm. Ink, brush, & wash in various colors, on paper, newly & expertly backed. Japan: ca. 1855.

These two vividly illustrated contemporary scrolls recount Commodore Matthew Perry’s second expedition to Japan from the perspective of the Japanese. A large number of the scenes are devoted to American machinery and technology, which the Japanese had never seen before, such as a small-scale train locomotive, a telegraph transmitter, a freestanding steam engine, a furnace, and a cannon. Executed shortly after Perry and his squadron departed, these scrolls also contain portraits of Perry and his chief of staff, Henry A.... More about Two finely illustrated scrolls depicting Commodore Perry’s second and decisive visit to Japan,...

Ten folding engraved plates. viii, 368 pp. Large 4to, orig. paste-paper wrappers (a bit frayed), printed paper label on spine, uncut. Paris: Bachelier, 1821.

First collected edition and quite scarce on the market. “Coulomb’s collected memoirs on mechanics. The first of these deals with simple machines and won the Academy prize of 1779. The second is a study of friction at pivots, and the third deals with torsion and the elasticity of metal wire. In the fourth memoir Coulomb discusses man’s ability to perform work, quoting Daniel Bernoulli and d’Alembert. The fifth memoir is devoted to windmills and the force of their... More about Théorie des Machines simples, en ayant Égard au frottement de leurs parties et a la Roideur des...

Large engraved vignette on title & another at the head of the first leaf of Part II and 30 fine folding engraved plates (numbered I–XXVIII plus XV* & a second plate numbered XVI). 184 pp. 4 p.l., 183, [1] pp. Small 4to, cont. speckled sheep, contrasting vellum lettering piece on spine. Stockholm: tryckt af P.J. Nyström, 1752.

First edition and very rare; WorldCat locates only one copy in North America. This Introduction to the Mechanics and the Art of Construction, including a Description of Several of the Machines invented by the late…Mr. Polhem is the best early treatise on the mechanical and industrial processes... More about Inledning til Mecaniken och Bygnings-Konsten, sämte en Beskrifning öfwer åtskillige af...

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.

1 p.l., 7, [9], 6 pp. Small 4to, attractive antique calf, spine gilt, red morocco lettering piece on spine. London: Printed by T.F., sold by W. Ley, 1657.

First edition and rather scarce. Following Shaw’s essay on the dung roller, which he invented, the remainder of the book consists of two texts, the first starting “How to Order any Land, so as it may reteyne all the moysture that falleth thereon: and to Improve it thereby,” and the second starting “An Easie and Profitable Order in Tilling of Ground to improve it and make it Fertile.”

“The main points of interest about this work are its mention of the use of a manuring ‘Rowler’ or ‘Barrow,’ which seems to anticipate the modern manuring drill, and the advice it contains to plough in wide lands so that the following season the spaces between may be ploughed into lands, thus resting some part of the field each year and getting continuous heavy crops, which sounds rather similar to, although not precisely the same, as Tull’s Horse-Houghing Husbandry. It is a pity the book contains no description or drawing of the manuring rowler or barrow. The system of cultivation of barren lands Shaw recommends is curious.”–Fussell, The Old English Farming Books from Fitzherbert to Tull 1523 to 1730, p. 53. More about Certaine plaine and easie Demonstrations of divers Easie wayes and meanes for the Improving of...

Three folding engraved plates. 32 pp. 8vo, cont. half-calf & marbled boards (upper joint a little cracked but strong), flat spine lettered in gilt. London: T. Hookham, 1786.

First edition and very rare; WorldCat locates no copy in North America. Following Jethro Tull’s invention and perfection of the seed drill, there were numerous others who developed modifications and further improvements. The text of this anonymous work describes the construction of William Winlaw’s drill ploughs in great detail — as illustrated on the fine plates. The ploughs were available from “Winlaw, Engine-maker, Margaret Street, Cavendish Square.” He also invented a very successful threshing machine... More about A Plan and Description of a Drill Plough, which sows all Kinds of Grain or Seeds, and any...