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An Account of the Most Approved Mode of Draining Land; according to the System practised by Mr Joseph Elkington. With an appendix containing hints for the further improvements of Bogs and other Marshy Ground after draining;
Edinburgh Mundell and Son 1797
Title continues: "Together with observations on hollow and surface draining in general. The whole illustrated by explanatory engravings." Quarter leather with marbled boards. gilt title on label to spine. Owner's bookplate to the inside board. Scarce First Edition. 16 engraved plates (2 folding) - Complete. The binding (later re-back) has been done a little tight, so there is some breaking to the first gather. One of the plates has scuffing to the surface (not particularly noticeable). One leaf of "Conclusion." xv, 182 pp. Large 4to. 270 by 220mm (10Ÿ by 8Ÿ inches). Johnstone (d. 1838), an Edinburgh surveyor, was promised a grant of £1000 by the recently formed Board of Agriculture to provide a detailed and accurate account of the system of land drainage developed by Joseph Elkington (d. 1806), a farmer in Warwickshire and designer of land drainage systems. Elkington was known to be in poor health, and it was feared that knowledge of his innovations might perish with him. "About 1763 Elkington inherited a farm at Princethorpe, where some years later he discovered, at Long Harold Pits along a geological fault, the method of land drainage for which he is remembered. He discovered by accident, after losing more than 800 sheep to liver rot, how some strata were porous and pervious to water while others were not, and that he could locate the former with the auger used in exploring for marl and coal."-ODNB
Hand-coloured Copper Engraving of Sheep from 'Historia Naturalis'
Amsterdam Johann Jacob Schipper 1657
Single sheet from 'Historia Naturalis' published 1657 and engraved by Matthaus [Matthew] Merian. Beautifully hand-coloured, in excellent condition, under cream passe partout. This would look great framed. 295 x 180 mm (11œ x 7 inches).
Historiæ Naturalis de Piscibus et Cetis Libri V. Cum æneis figuris. + Historiæ Naturalis De Exanguibus Aquaticis Libri IV. Cum figuris Æneis.
Amstelodami (Amsterdam), Johannes Jacobi Schipperi, 1657. Folio. Bound in one later (ca. 1800) hcalf w. marbled boards, uncut. Back w. six raised bands and coloured title-labels. Hinges, capitals and corners w. traces of use. First 12 leaves of ""De Piscibus"" w. repair to lower margin (ca. 4 x 10 cm. and decreasing) w. waterstaining around it, neither repair nor waterstaining affecting text or illustrations. Otherwise internally nice and clean. Engr. t-p. and 48 engr. plates (most of them depicting between 7 and 20 animals that live in water), 5, (3), 160 pp. (De Piscibus) + woodcut title-vignette and 20 engr. plates (most of them depicting between 10 and 20 shell-fish etc.), 58, (2) pp.
Second edition of both works. The ""Exanguibus Aquaticis"" is in accordance with Nissen's description of the second edition (Nissen 2134), the second edition of the ""De Piscibus"", however, is described in Nissen without year and as containing 47 plates, as the first edition, whereas this copy has 48 plates (all numbered), place and printer are the same. The first editions were both printed in Frankfurt in 1650. Johnston (1603 - 1675) was born in Poland and of Scottish descend, he was primarily a medic and natural historian. His works are usually seen as compilations of information with no personal judgment accompanying it. None the less his works of natural history were of great importance to the growing interest in this field of the time. ""For example four of his dictionary-style works on fish, birds, quadrupeds, and insects -published between 1650 and 1653 with excellent illustrations- were widely read and translated"" (D.S.B. VII:164). Though he relied a lot on the writings of others (e.g. those of Aldrovandi), his works became of great importance, first of all because of their new educational approach, but they were also of paramount importance to the development of natural history in Japan. The first collected edition in Dutch of the Historia Naturalis published at Amsterdam in 1660, was presented as a gift to the Japanese ruler Shogun Yoshimune. It was the only source of knowledge of western natural history in Japan, until in 1750. ""Jonston's writings were a useful contribution to seventeenth-century thought, although he was not in the forefront of changing concepts of the time."" (D.S.B. VII:165).These two works are the separate volumes three and four of Johnston's six-volume work ""Historia Naturalis"". All the beautifully executed plates are by Merian, who printed the first edition. Wood mentions this 1657-edition as the ""editio princeps"" (Wood p. 409). Nissen 2133 + 2134.
Natural Deduction. The Logical Basis of Axiom Systems.
Belmont, Wadsworth, (1962). 8vo. Orig. full cloth w. gilt lettering on spine and front board. XII,418 pp.
First edition.
