M. Duhamel du Monceau - Traité de la culture des terres - 6 vol - 1753-1761

Important six-volume complete ensemble, devoted to new cultivation methods and improvements in agricultural techniques in the eighteenth century.

Volumes I and II, published in 1753, explicitly bear on their title pages the note “Nouvelle édition corrigée & augmentée” (New corrected and augmented edition).

The following four volumes constitute the successive continuations of the work and are here in the original edition:

Volume III — 1754: experiments conducted during the year 1753.
Volume IV — 1755: experiments conducted during the year 1754.
Volume V — 1757: experiments and reflections conducted during the years 1755 and 1756.
Volume VI — 1761: experiments and reflections conducted during the years 1757, 1758 and 1759.

The work is one of the important French agronomic treatises of the eighteenth century. Duhamel du Monceau develops and tests the principles of the English agronomist Jethro Tull, addressing in particular the work and preparation of soils, sowing, cultivation methods, harvests, as well as the use and improvement of agricultural machines and instruments.

The set is richly illustrated with 40 copper-engraved folding plates, mainly in fold-out format, plus a folding table. The plates depict plows, sowers and other agricultural machines and instruments, with numerous technical details.

Uniform period bindings in brown calfskin, spine with raised bands richly decorated with gilt tooling and fleurons, title pieces and volume numbers, red edges.

Condition: the bindings remain solid and in good overall condition. The boards are well preserved for their age, with the usual wear and marks from use. The spines show rubbing and several leather losses, notably at the joints and on some compartments; these defects are clearly visible in the photographs. The gilt decoration remains largely intact.

The major merit of this copy is its interior, exceptionally fresh for eighteenth-century books: light paper and remarkably well preserved, crisp print, with only a few foxmarks, small stains or occasional traces. The large folding plates also display excellent freshness, with their original folds.

An especially interesting set for its completeness in 6 volumes, its four original- edition continuations, its substantial technical illustration, and above all the remarkable preservation of its interiors.