TRAITE DE LA FABRIQUE DES MANOEU-VRES POUR LES VAISSEAUX OU L'ART DE LA CORDERIE PERFECTIONNE

Paris: L'Imprimerie Royale, 1747. First Edition. Very Good.. 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. But perhaps most significant as one of the earliest treatises on the commercial cultivation of cannabis. Includes two lovely and detailed fold-out plates of the male and female plants (both fine) that would make High Times proud. Though not exactly institutionally rare (OCLC locates ten copies of this edition, seven in the U.S.), it is so in the trade, with none currently in commerce and only a handful at auction since 1980. A second volume was published in 1769. Polak, 2858. Scott 341 (citing only the 2nd edition, this one presumably scarcer). Hardcover. 4to. Full contemporary calf with gilt titles and decorative spine. Engraved and woodcut initials, woodcut diagrams and head- and tail-pieces. Joints cracked, though intact. Spine laid down. Internally fine, very good overall. With the bookplate of Edward, Duke of Norfolk.