SERRES (Olivier de). Lot n° 12

The Farming Theatre and mesnage of the fields. Paris, Jamet Métayer, 1600. In-folio, megissed skin, spine with six nerves, traces of fasteners (Binding of the period). Original edition, of a rare insignia, of the most important treatise on agronomy published until then. "This first edition is the most beautiful of all", according to Thiébaud. It is illustrated with a title-frontispiece with a portico featuring Henri IV, the dedicatee of the work, engraved on copper by Charles de Mallery, 8 headed vignettes showing scenes of rural life and 16 large woodcut figures of flowerbeds. The first great French treatise on agronomy, a monumental work of universal interest. Like Les Essais de Montaigne, its contemporary, Le Théâtre d'agriculture is one of the first great conquests of the spirit of clarity of the modern world. Anyone who loves the earth, or who wants to understand it, is delighted to immerse himself in this enjoyable reading. The book, divided into eight "places", describes all agricultural subjects. Many times reprinted, it had a great influence in the production of silk and the cultivation of corn, beet and potatoes. It contains numerous chapters and passages devoted to food and drink, dealing in the second place with bread and vegetables, "which are very useful for the maintenance of the field mass"; in the third, it deals with the making of wine and, in the fourth, with butter and cheese; finally, in the eighth and last place, the first two chapters deal with "the use of food" and give numerous recipes for bread and wine. "Oliver de Serres, an agronomist and not a gastronome, is not interested in the culinary preparation itself, but in the ways of preserving food [...]: techniques for salting different meats on the one hand, and on the other hand, the processes for preserving fruit (with salt, vinegar, must, cooked wine, sugar, honey). The second chapter of book VIII thus constitutes a real treatise on jam" (Books in the mouth). Finally, the last chapter of the book deals with Hunting and Other Honest Exercises of the Gentleman. Coming from a family of militant Protestants, Olivier de Serres (1539-1619), the father of French agronomy, acquired the Pradel mills in the Vivarais in 1557 and converted them into a model farm. In 1598, on the death of his brother Jean, pastor and historiographer of King Henri IV, he was appointed co-guardian of his nephews and nieces and won the court to obtain the money promised by the king to their father. But Henry IV did not want to receive it; he nevertheless moved to Paris to take care of the publishing of his Agricultural Theatre. A chapter was published in February 1599 under the title La Cueillette de la soye par la nourriture des vers qui la font, followed by the first edition of the book on July 1, 1600. Olivier de Serres was not satisfied until 1604, when the king had made the Théâtre d'agriculture his bedside book. He was then able to return definitively to his lands. Old Ribaut's signature at the end of the text; pen and ink sketch on a guard. Some stains and rubbing at the binding. Wetnesses, minor marginal worm work (especially at the corner of pp. 121-154 and in the running title of pp. 649-700), small tear and mending in the white margin of the frontispiece, ff. ã1 and ã4 formerly remmargés, last crumpled leaves. Vicar, 788 - Bitting, 428 - Books in mouth, n°88 - Oberlé, n°612 - Simon : Bacchica, II, 619 - Thiébaud, 840 - In French in the text, n°79.