99 - REY DE PLANAZU (Fr. J.).

REY DE PLANAZU (Fr. J.). Works on Agriculture. Paris: Grangé; Troyes: Gobelet; Orléans: Couret de Villeneuve; Meaux: Courtois & Compiègne; Bertrand, 1786–1787. 26 quires bound in 1 in-4 volume, root-tanned sheepskin, smooth spine richly decorated, gilt roulette on the edges (contemporary binding). First edition of this beautiful publication promoting agriculture in France. It is illustrated with an allegorical frontispiece in quire no. 23 and 29 color plates printed at the time. In his introduction, the author laments the current state of agriculture in France. To promote new production methods among the French nobility, he wrote 26 treatises, which he published between 1786 and 1787 in Paris and in various cities in eastern France; these treatises propose ingenious machines, some of which he invented himself, to improve profitability. The work includes details on fertilizer, a seed drill, a fan for fodder, a device for preserving pome fruits, potato cultivation, and more. The final section is devoted to bees. Rey de Planazu was an agronomist and a member of the Zurich Physical and Economic Society. A very fine, complete copy of everything that was published, which is extremely rare (for booklets nos. 21 and 22, which appeared without text pages but only with an engraving numbered 21 and 22, the text was engraved directly onto the plates).