Farm Manual, 1736

Antique French manual that describes in detail the management of a farm and all its different aspects. The manual is composed of two volumes published in 1736 and its full title is: La nouvelle maison rustique, ou économie generale de tous les biens de campagne: La maniere de les entretenir & de les multiplier; Dornée ci-devant au Public par le Sieur Liger. (The new rustic house, or general economy of all campaign assets: The way to maintain & to multiply them)The volumes contain hundreds of pages explaining different subjects about agriculture, livestock, botany and other features related to rural households. The manual also contains chapters on other issues such as illness and remedies, hunt, laws and cookery recipes; it is a very complete treatise full of interesting information. On the first pages of Volume I, to the right we can see the manuals title printed in red and black ink together with the authors name, the city of printing (Paris) and other data such as the printers address and year of publication. To the left there is an elegant engraving entitled NOUVELLE MAISON RUSTIQUE, something that could be translated as The Modern Farm. The engraving is classic in style and depicts an aristocratic mansion surrounded of nicely ordered fields and with small figures that perform farming operations. The rest of the pages are full of information in French, divided in well organized chapters and with indexes at the end of each book. The texts are accompanied by delicate engravings that illustrate the operations and depict animals, plants, site plans, farming tools,etc. The books binding is original from the era; it is somewhat worn by the trace of time and use but still preserves its beauty and charm. It is covered by brown leather and the spine bears the stamped and gold-plated title and volume number, accompanied by gold-plated stamped motives and parallel raised bands. Inside the covers are lined with yellow, red and blue marbled paper. Complete and beautiful, this two-volume manual is a collectors piece that preserves its original interest. Measurements of Each Volume: Width: 7.8 in / 20 cm. Height: 10.2 in / 26 cm.