One vol. of text: xv, 672 pp., one folding leaf (“224bis”), & one large folding printed table (“660bis”). 8vo, cont. green morocco-backed marbled boards, spine gilt. Atlas: One leaf of title, one leaf of index of plates, & 42 double-page photolithographed plates. Large 4to, binding as above. Paris: J. Baudry, 1875.

Second edition, “entièrement revue et corrigée.” Alcan (1811-77), was professor of textiles at the Conservatoire national des Arts et Métiers in Paris. He wrote a series of books on various technical aspects of the textile industry.

This is his main work on cotton and the cotton industry, which became a standard... More

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

One scroll measuring 277 x 3830 mm. Ink, brush, & wash in red, blue, black, and brown, on paper newly & expertly backed. Japan: after 1853.

A contemporary copy of an official report concerning Commodore Perry’s first expedition, when he attempted to land on Japanese shores in 1853. Much of the scroll is wonderfully illustrated and contains a map tracking the American squadron’s path through Uraga Channel on its way to Edo. The scroll dramatically depicts two American steamships and concludes with the text of four internal government documents concerning the arrival of these foreign ships that contain the contents of high-level discussions on the... 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

Three parts in two vols. 139; 86 folding leaves. 8vo (235 x 165 mm.), cont. patterned covers (extremities a little worn), new stitching. Edo: ca. 1863.

A fascinating compilation of contemporary reports chronicling the first 11 years of the turbulent Bakumatsu era, 1853-67, the period between Commodore Perry’s first visit to Japan and the establishment of the Meiji government. These two volumes consist of manuscript copies of high-level official documents in the years 1853 to 1863, describing pivotal moments in Japan’s history that fundamentally shaped its relationship to the rest of the world.

Heralding the end of the Edo period and a Tokugawa-controlled government, the Bakumatsu period saw Japan end its policy of strict isolationism. The shogun reluctantly accepted that interactions with the rest of the world were unavoidable; however, sizable factions steadfastly and violently resisted opening Japan to the world. The influx of Americans, British, Russians, French, and Dutch in several port cities instigated numerous crimes against foreigners. In one notable incident in January 1861, a group of samurai assassinated a Dutchman named Henry Heusken, who was serving as secretary and interpreter for the American embassy. That summer, at the British legation in Edo, a band of ronin (masterless samurai) attacked ambassador Rutherford Alcock and several other diplomats, killing two. 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