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

4to: [2]-xl-464 pp.; 7 pl. (occ. spotting).

Contemp. mottled calf, gilt-ruled boards with central gilt coat of arms, gilt-orn. spine with raised bands and crowned cypher, red morocco label, red sp. edges, gilt inside dentelle (very light and mainly marg. rubbing). Very good copy.

Very rare first edition 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 famous 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. ill.: arms of France on title, 14 headpieces and 7 folding pl. incl. 2 botanic plates.
Ref. Polak (Bibl. marit. fr.) 2858. - Cp. Kress 6631 (2nd ed. 1769).
Prov. King Louis XIV's arms (supralibros).