Observations... on the Wines of the Ancients

Barry, Edward. Observations Historical, Critical & Medical on the Wines of the Ancients. [FIRST EDITION] T Cadell: London, 1775. 4to (270x220mm) recent half brown calf, gilt spine with Morocco label, marbled bds, xii,479,[1]pp. VG/-

BARRY, Sir Edward (1696-1776)

Observations Historical, Critical, and Medical, on the Wines of the Ancients. And the Analogy between them and Modern Wines. With General Observations on the Principles and Qualities of Water, and in particular on those of Bath.  Indagatio ipsa rerum tum maximarum tum etiam occultissimarum habet oblectationem.  Si vero aliquid occurret quod verisimile videatur, humanissima completur animus volupate. CIC in Lucullo

London : Printed for T Cadell, in the Strand 1775. First and only Edition.

Quarto (270x220mm) twentieth century half brown smooth calf, gilt decorated spine with black morocco, gilt lettered spine label, marbled boards and endpapers, xii,479,[1]pp:  π²,a⁴,B-Ppp⁴.  An engraved vignette to the title-page and an engraved plate at p.160-1, both signed Isaac Taylor sculp¹.

Armorial bookplate  with the motto 'Sub Robore Virtus' circling a lion, over a Maltese Cross, the bookplate of Frederick William Cosens (1819-1899) to front paste-down; bookseller ticket also to front paste-down "M M Einhorn Maxwell, Books at the Sign of the Dancing Bear 80 East 11 St., N.Y., N.Y. 10003".  Small chip to front free end-paper; library stamp to title-page "Mercantile Library, New York K365456".  Top edge lightly soiled; occasional faint foxing; small chip to corner of p.56; p.160 offset toned; loose ribbon marker at p.392 which has offset toned the gutter of pps.392-3.  Without the list of books sold by John Donaldson bookseller at rear.

Barry was was an Irish physician and politician who retired to Bath.  Of particular interest to contemporary readers and drinkers of wine is the appendix, commencing at p.421.  "Barry's comments about modern wines give us an insight into the thinking of a distinguished Englishman about wines available in England in [1775].  Aside from content, Barry's book will interest the book collector for its sheer physical beauty."²  Barry's commentary on the wine regions of Europe resonate with the terroir of those regions and the wines produced and is still relevant today.

A handsome copy of the earliest major work in English on the wines of the ancients, and the first book in English to discuss modern wine.  
§  Cagle 556; ESTC T86996; Gabler Second Edition, G9115; Maclean, p. 8; Simon BV 4; Simon BG 168; Vicaire 66; Noling p.53.

¹   The errata slip at the rear includes a note to the binder calling for a plate between pages 160-161.  In most copies recorded, a plate is bound in as a frontispiece, raising a question as to what was to be bound at pages 160-161.  Here it is correctly bound.
²  Gabler p.34.