16
century writers” in the field of agriculture ( English Husbandry , 1951). Blith here 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 other “English Improver”. Wing placed this edition first. “Improver” has roughly double the page count, and the Thomason Collection copy has a note of accession in December 1649, both suggestive that “Improver” is the second edition. Expanded third and fourth editions followed in 1652 and 1653. Quarto (178 × 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. ¶ ESTC R210745; Fussell, pp. 51–3; Wing B3193. £2,000 [149383]
15
15 BLACKSTONE, William. Commentaries on the Laws of England. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1765–69 The key work in English legal literature First editions of all four volumes of the supreme work on English law, Blackstone’s magnum opus, a major influence on the Founding Fathers, and the foundation of all legal analysis of the next two centuries. “Blackstone’s great work on the laws of England is the extreme example of justification of an existing state of affairs by virtue of its history . . . Until the Commentaries , the ordinary Englishman had viewed the law as a vast, unintelligible and unfriendly machine . . . Blackstone’s great achievement was to popularize the law and the traditions which had influenced its formation . . . He takes a delight in describing and defending as the essence of the constitution the often anomalous complexities which had grown into the laws of England over the centuries. But he achieves the astonishing feat of communicating this delight,
and this is due to a style which is itself always lucid and graceful” ( PMM ). 4 volumes, quarto (266 × 211 mm). Contemporary calf, rebacked and recornered to style, red morocco spine labels. 2 engraved tables (1 folding) in volume II. Bookplate of William Hackblock (1805–1858) to front pastedowns (briefly independent MP for Reigate), below signatures of W. Hackblock Jr in vols. I and II, leaf of 18th-century notes loosely inserted in vol. II, frequent annotations in pencil and a few in early ink to text. Covers a little stripped and scuffed, some worming at start of vols. I and II and at end of II and IV, light foxing, light staining at head of terminal leaves in vol. I, chip in inner margin of vol. IV pp. 365/6. A very good copy. ¶ ESTC T57753; Printing and the Mind of Man 212; Rothschild 407. £15,000 [153852] 16 BLITH, Walter. The English Improover, or a new Survey of Husbandry . . . London: printed for I. Wright, 1649 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
All items are fully described and photographed at peterharrington.co.uk
9
Made with FlippingBook Online newsletter maker