2 p.l., 66, [1] pp. Small 8vo (180 x 105 mm.), late 19th-century cloth-backed marbled boards, spine gilt. Paris: P. Remy & Musier, 1773.

[bound after]:

([BENARD, —]). Catalogue des Bronzes, Marbres, Porcelaines, Meubles, & autres objets de curiosité. Provenant du Cabinet de M.*** Dont la Vente se fera…le Jeudi 26 Mai 1774, & jour suivans… 9 pp. Small 8vo. Paris: Chariot, 1774. More

Engraved allegorical frontis. & seven large folding engraved plates. 8 p.l. (incl. frontis. & half-title), 80, [2], 56 pp., one leaf of errata. Large 4to, cont. vellum over boards. Milan: per M.A. Pandolfo Malatesta, 1718.

First edition of this rare and finely illustrated work on a new type of plough developed by the Marchese Borro (1672-1760), mathematician, mechanician, soldier, and poet, who lived in Tuscany. The author provides a detailed account of the various trials he performed while the plough was in development.

The fine plates, executed by the renowned Milanese artist Gaetano Bianchi, depict the various parts of the plough and the plough being... More

One large folding engraved frontis. plate & one folding plate. 2 p.l., 43, [1] pp. 8vo, attractive antique calf-backed marbled boards, spine gilt, red morocco lettering piece on spine. Canterbury: Printed for the Author…, 1786.

First edition and very rare; ESTC locates only one copy in North America. Following Jethro Tull’s invention and perfection of the seed drill, there were numerous others who developed modifications and improvements. The great advance made by Horn, a resident of Dover, was to design and patent a sowing machine that could plant every kind of seed. Pages 36-43 contain a minute description of the ten figures on the... More

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

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