Prevost, Benoit Louis

DUHAMEL DU MONCEAU, Henri-Louis De l'exploitation des bois, ou Moyens de tirer un parti avantageux des taillis, demi-futaies et hautes-futaies, et d'en faire une juste estimation : avec la description des arts qui se pratiquent dans les forêts : faisant partie du Traité complet des bois & des forêts. Work enriched with figures in intaglio. Paris H.L. Guerin & L.F. Delatour 1764 2 vols. in-4° with continuous pagination: xvi-xlvii-[1]-1/430, xiv-431/708 pp. 36 h.-t. (some yellowed or browned pp., rare soiling or faint russets, creases in the text, otherwise fresh inside). Contemporary ragged calf, spines gilt with fleurons, spotted edges (corners and headpieces repaired, small scratches on the boards). First edition of this treatise on forestry, complete in itself but part of the large "Traité complet des bois & des forêts" comprising the "Traité des arbres et des arbustes" (1755), the "Physique des arbres" (1758), the "Semis et plantations" (1760) and ending with "Du transport, de la conservation et de la force des bois" (1767). The work deals with the physics of wood, coppices, forests and their felling, the exploitation of forests and the exploitation of "Bois-Quarrés". Illustrated with a banner depicting a logging operation by Prevost and 36 fold-out plates giving a detailed view of logging techniques, wood cutting and the necessary tools. Wellcome II:495. - Not in Nissen (BBI), Pritzel, Plesch, Hunt. Prov. Charles Théodore de L'Escaille, lieutenant-woutmaître (forester) of Brabant (ms. app., 18th c.).