Traité de la fabrique des manoeuvres pour les vaisseaux, ou L’Art de la corderie perfectionné.

Lge 4to: [2]-xl [= 40]-464 pp.

Contemp. gilt mottled calf, covers with gilt arms within double gilt ruled border, richly gilt spine with 6 raised bands and morocco label, red sp. edges, marbled endpapers, gilt inside dentelles (rubbed, corners bumped). Very good copy.

First edition (enl. 1769) of an exhaustive work on the fabrication of hemp rope for ships, from raising the plant, to extracting the raw materials, to manufacturing cordage, by the French physician, naval engineer and botanist Duhamel du Monceau (1700-1782). It is also one of the earliest treatises on the commercial cultivation of cannabis. Engr. French arms on title. engr. head pieces and 7 folding engr., incl. two plates of the male and female plants.
Ref. Polak (Bibl. marit. fr.) 2858.
Prov. Gilt French royal arms on covers.