universal directory taking alive destroying von smith robert (16 Ergebnisse)

Zustand: New. In.

Zustand: New. In.

Zustand: New. In.

Zustand: New. In.

Full Leather. Zustand: Good. iv, iii-vii, introduction, 218pp, illustrated with black & white plates, some folding, LACKS PLATE V, initials WM written in ink at the start of each chapter, some offsetting and occasional spotting, one wormhole to front fixed endpaper, no other sign of this sort of damage, full leather binding, neatly rebacked with the original leather of boards reused, banded spine with gilt lettering on a red panel. Size: 7.25 x 4.25 Inches. Pest Control.

First Irish edition, 12mo, ix, [1], 218pp., ownership name cut from upper margin of title page and contents leaf, 6 folding engraved plates (plate II slightly trimmed), text and plates clean and bright, later calf-backed marbled boards, spine label lettered in gilt.

Fourth edition. Fourth edition. 7 copper-engraved plates of traps, their construction and use. 1 vols. 12mo. A curious and unusual subject, written by the "Late Rat-Catcher to the Princess Amelia". Modern quarter calf and boards, new endpapers 7 copper-engraved plates of traps, their construction and use. 1 vols. 12mo.

First Edition. 8vo, pp.iv, [1], iv-vii, [1], 218; with 6 engraved plates, printed slip threatening prosecution for reprinting or pirating pasted to title verso; some foxing throughout, but otherwise a good copy; in nineteenth-century brown calf by Leighton of Brewer Street, spine lettered in gilt, red edges; some scuffs to corners and spine; ink inscription to title 'Charles Freman Sept 1770 pretii 10s 6d', arms of William Stirling-Maxwell in blind to upper cover and his bookplate.First edition of a guide to catching and killing all manner of crawling and flying vermin, illustrated with plates, by the professional exterminator and rat-catcher Robert Smith. King James I may well have believed in the divine right of kings, but it appears that this divine right did not extend to being spared the presence of God's 'most mischievous' creation, the rat. Already in his reign he appointed a royal rat-catcher salary, 8d a week; dress, 'scarlet, embroidered with yellow worsted, decorated with the figures of mice destroying weat-sheaves' and it appears that this practice continued in the following century: for just such a figure was Robert Smith, official rat-catcher to princess Amelia, the second daughter of king George II, who in 1768 published this complete compendium to exterminating not only rats, but all manner of vermin from the 'sheep-killing dog' to the weasel, the mole, and the wood owl. In addition to describing both the nature and habits of the animals themselves as well as the features of the various traps intended to thereby destroy them, Smith's work contains six detailed plates the work of the London engraver Thomas Bowen (d.1790) which depict the construction and machinations of his different deathly contraptions. It seems that Smith found some success in this business, both in exterminating the creatures themselves and in teaching others how to follow his example: his use of the live-trap with which he once caught seventy-two rats in one night (p.104) and which is lovingly illustrated on p.108 was still being recommended as the best example thereof more than a century later ('Vermin of the Farm', in Journal of the Agricultural Society of England 3 (1892), pp.210-211). Provenance: from the library of the Scottish art historian, writer, and politician William Stirling-Maxwell (18181878), ninth Baronet. Whether Stirling-Maxwell purchased this book as merely a curiosity or whether he was dealing with his own rat infestation at Keir House is unknown. ESTC T132212. Language: English.

4th Edn, VIII 150 pages, pages uncut, 6 plates, 4 of which are folding, some foxing to plates, light dust soiling to contents, later 1/4 calf, vg. Robert Smith states he was rat catcher to Princess Amelia the contents cover the fox, badger, sheep killing dogs, numerous birds of prey etc., the plates show various traps.

1st Edn, VII 218 pages, 6 plates 4 of which are folding. Original full tan calf retaining the original boards, new matching spine retaining the original label, a vg copy of the first edition, to the verso of title page printed note "If any person shall reprint this book or offer to pirate it, they will be prosecuted according to the law". Robert Smith states he was rat catcher to Princess Amelia the contents cover the fox, badger, sheep killing dogs, numerous birds of prey etc., the plates show various traps. A much reprinted title, the 1st edition is particularly hard to find.

8vo, pp. iv, (iii)?vii, 218, and 6 engraved plates (4 folding). Contemporary mottled sheep (ends of spine worn, joints cracked but perfectly firm), later red morocco label on spine. Armorial bookplate (defaced with lower portion missing) on front pastedown and later bookplate of J. Hainstock Anderson on front free endpaper. FIRST EDITION. The first successful English book on the control of vermin. There had been three or four small works on catching vermin published prior to Smith?s book, most of them short works now known in only a few copies or even only one copy. Smith himself published a 48-page pamphlet The complete rat-catcher in 1768, presumably before expanding it into the present book-length treatise which went to three editions in less than twenty years. It includes all manner of animals including some that we no longer consider vermin such as badgers, otters, owls, hawks, and the nightjar. He does include that modern nuisance, ?the sheep-killing dog? Smith was rat-catcher to Princess Amelia, daughter of George II, and his rat trap was still being recommended by the Royal Agricultural Society of England as the best example of its kind more than a century later. The Preservation of Grain Act of 1532 was passed by Henry VIII as a result of a series of poor harvests coupled with population growth resulting in food shortages. Therefore the Tudors declared war on that part of the wildlife population that was deemed a threat to food supplies, and it was the duty of every parishioner to despatch these pests at every opportunity. The practice continued essentially uncontrolled into the twentieth century.