277 - [SULLY, Maximilien de Béthune, Duke of]. *Le Parfait oeconome*.

[SULLY, Maximilien de Béthune, Duke of]. *Le Parfait oeconome*. First edition of this 17th-century manual for the good farmer. Paris, Claude Prudhomme, 1710. In-12, brown leather, ribbed spine decorated with gilt fleurons and panels, gilt roulette on the edges, red edges. (4) ff., 131 pp., 89 pp., (3) pp., 48 pp., (1) ff. Leather cracked, spine rubbed, dark stain on the front cover. Hinges split. Annotations on the inside back cover. A rare first edition of this treatise offering tips and advice on farm management. It includes, in particular, a list of standard prices for various materials and advice on the management of diverse resources: livestock, vineyards, timber, orchards, etc. The work is generally attributed to Maximilien de Béthune (1559–1641), Duke of Sully and minister to Henry IV, who was known for his interest in agriculture. As is often the case with this title, the work is followed by two treatises on agronomy, which vary depending on the copy. In our copy, these are “Instructions for the Vegetable and Fruit Garden” and “New Instructions for Identifying Good Fruit, According to the Months of the Year.” From the library of the famous bibliophile and gastronome Léon Lambert, bearing his “Deuzel” bookplate. A handwritten period bookplate on the endpaper. A copy that is beautifully fresh inside and bound in its original period binding.