walter blith (5 Ergebnisse)

Paperback. Zustand: Good. No Jacket. Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.

TITLE CONTINUED: Discovering the Improueableness of all Lands: Some to be under a double and Treble others under a Five or Six Fould. And many under a Tenn fould, yea Some under a Twenty fould Improvement. by Wa. Blith a lover of Ingenuity. THIRD EDITION MUCH AUGMENTED 1653. Small 4to, approximately, 180 x 140 mm, 7 x 5½ inches, additional engraved title page, 2 folding engraved plates plus 2 full page woodcuts and 1 small woodcut in the text, pages: [26], 1-274, plus 12 pages of tables, several pages misnumbered by the printer, collated and all catchwords correct, no pages missing, full contemporary plain sheep, blind rules to covers. Binding rubbed with some scuffing to back cover, spine slighty crinkled, small hole to head of upper hinge and 2 pinholes to foot of spine, engraved title trimmed with slight loss to image at top and bottom (seems to be a common fault), pastedowns stained, small paper fault and chip to outer margin of page 11, not affecting text, tip of lower outer corner of last leaf neatly repaired, not near text, a few other minor faults such as tiny rust spots and an occasional small pale stain, otherwise a good clean tight copy. See: Mary S. Aslin, Catalogue of the Printed Books on Agriculture 1471-1840, page 18: "He is the first to advocate alternate husbandry and the first English writer to deal with drainage"; Donald McDonald, Agricltural Writers 1200-1800, pages 97-103 with illustrations; G.E. Fussell, Old English Farming Books, 1523 to 1730, page 52: " Walter Blith became a Captain in the Roundhead Army in the Civil War, and Dedicated this book to the Rt. Hon. the Lord General Cromwell, the added engraved title was designed to show as the reader looks down the page, how by degrees the country turns from war to more peaceful pursuits", it shows soldiers, farmers and a surveyer and round the edge of the central text he quotes the Bible "They shall beat their Swords in to Plowshares And their Speares into Pruning Hookes". MORE IMAGES ATTACHED TO THIS LISTING, ALL ZOOMABLE, FURTHER IMAGES ON REQUEST. POSTAGE AT COST.

Hardcover. Zustand: Good. 3rd Edition. "The English Improver Improved or the Survey of Husbandry Surveyed" by Walter Blith. [London: printed for John Wright, 1653]. 8vo. [26], 274, [12] pp. index. Third edition. Engraved pictorial title in large cartouche, two folding plates, and two full-page woodcut illustrations included in pagination, numerous woodcut initials and intertextual illustrations (plates laid down). Early full calf framed in alternating tulip tooling, later rebacked with raised bands, crimson morocco spine label gilt titled (front board detached but present). A clean copy.

One of two 1649 editions, of unestablished priority. Walter Blith (1605-1654) has been called by Robert Trow-Smith "the greatest of the mid-seventeenth century writers" in the field of agriculture (English Husbandry, 1951). In this work, Blith advocates draining and making water meadows, inclosure, the use of manures, and plantations. "In spite of the currently fashionable interlarding of Biblical references and quotations his directions are surprisingly clear: but like many another he was too far in advance of his time to be generally heeded, and it was more than a century later before any real progress was made with the improvements he advocates" (Fussell, p. 53). There were two editions in 1649 (most easily distinguished by their titles, the present "English Improover" and the separate "English Improver"). Wing placed this edition as the first, although "Improver" is also commonly cited as such. "Improver" is roughly double the pagination, and the Thomason Collection copy has a note of accession of December, both evidence that it is the second edition. Expanded third and fourth editions followed in 1652 and 1653. Provenance: The Lawes Agricultural Library, with their shelf marks in pencil to the front pastedown and to the title page (acquired at their sale, no direct statement of library ownership). The library was assembled in the early 20th century by Sir John Russell, director of the Rothamsted agricultural research institution in Hertfordshire, and ranked as one of the finest English collections of agricultural material. ESTC R210745; Wing B3193; Fussell pp. 51-3. Quarto (182 x 139 mm). Early 20th-century calf, spine lettered in gilt, covers panelled in gilt with gilt floral cornerpieces, gilt turn-ins and edges. Contemporary annotation to p. 37 and a couple of minor corrections to text. Spine lightly sunned, minor running mark to first few leaves, closely cropped in places without loss. A very good copy.

One of two 1649 editions, of unestablished priority. Walter Blith (1605-1654) has been called by Robert Trow-Smith "the greatest of the mid-seventeenth century writers" in the field of agriculture (English Husbandry, 1951). In this work, Blith advocates draining and making water meadows, inclosure, the use of manures, and plantations. "In spite of the currently fashionable interlarding of Biblical references and quotations his directions are surprisingly clear: but like many another he was too far in advance of his time to be generally heeded, and it was more than a century later before any real progress was made with the improvements he advocates" (Fussell, p. 53). There were two editions in 1649 (most easily distinguished by their titles, the present "English Improover" and the separate "English Improver"). Wing placed this edition as the first, although "Improver" is also commonly cited as such. "Improver" is roughly double the pagination, and the Thomason Collection copy has a note of accession of December, both evidence that it is the second edition. Expanded third and fourth editions followed in 1652 and 1653. ESTC R210745; Fussell, pp. 51-3; Wing B3193. Quarto (178 x 136 mm). Contemporary sheep, plainly rebacked in calf, inner hinges reinforced. Neat ownership notation on title page. Extremities a little worn with sheep stripped, contents lightly browned, some shoulder notes slightly cropped, light staining towards rear; a very good copy.