The Complete Farmer: or, a General Dictionary of Husbandry, in All Its Branches; Containing the Various Methods of Cultivating and Improving every Species of Land, According to the Precepts of Both the Old and New Husbandry

London: Printed for R. Baldwin, Hawes, Clarke and Collins, S. Crowder, T. Longman, B. Law, T. Lowndes, and Robinson and Roberts, 1769. 4to. (10 3/4 x 8 inches). Second edition, Corrected and Improved. [A]4 B-4R4 4S2 *A-*O4 *P2. [688] [1]-111 [5]. 804 pp. 28 engraved plates, 27 of which are folding. Engraved allegorical frontispiece, title, advertisement, the Complete Farmer, the Gardeners Kalendar, introduction, calendar, index. Printed in double columns. Woodcut calculations and minor ornaments. Contemporary full tan calf, gilt-patterning along board edges, five raised bands forming six compartments on spine with gilt-lettered red morocco titling-piece in second, all edges sprinkled red

One of the foremost publications on rural and agrarian matters in the late 18th century, with twenty-seven folding plates and a gardner's supplement.

A lovely example of an extensive and influential dictionary of information on agriculture and husbandry from A to Z, written by a member of the Royal Society of Arts under the pseudonym "A Society of Gentlemen." First issued in 1756, the Complete Farmer was published in weekly numbers until 1768. The present work is an example of the 1769 second edition that followed. It contains rich text and elaborate engravings related to cultivating and improving land; breeding, managing, and fattening cattle; curing various diseases; crops, insects, vegetation, water, and much more. Several pages are dedicated to apiary and bees - their anatomy, habits, wax, honey, and preservation. Bound at rear is the supplement "the Gardners Kalendar, Calculated for the Use of Farmers and Country Gentlemen: Containing an Ample Account of the work Necessary to be Done Every Month in the Year; in the Nursery, Kitchen, Fruit, and Flower Gardens. Together with Full Directions for Performing Every necessary Operation, According to the Latest Improvements." It explains which crops grow best in which season through all twelve months of the year. Its ample information is as pertinent to gardening today, especially organic gardening, as it was when it was written. The twenty-seven fold-out engravings each exhibit several associated figures, often with cursive captioning, that are attractive and laden with visual information of a didactic and decorative nature.

Aslin 120. British Bee Books 117. ESTC T75354. Higgs 3643. Perkins 379.