Histoire veritable et merveilleuse d’une jeune Angloise...

Paris: Lottin, 1772. FIRST EDITION. Contemporary half calf over speckled boards, spine and label gilt, edges sprinkled blue. Fine, internally fresh. First edition, a descriptive account of two teenagers with super-human powers. The first, a Provençal shepherd boy, possessed the ability to detect subterranean waters. The second was an English girl who could see through earth and bodies to what lies beneath. The author supports the veracity of their abilities with similar accounts taken from scientists and natural historians, eyewitness testimonies, and a letter from one Lord Norton, who was acquainted with the English seer, transcribed in full.
François Marin (1721-1809) was a French journalist, author, and censor. This work is attributed to him because he first reported on the dowsing gifts of the shepherd boy in the Gazette de France.
There are no copies of this first edition in the U.S.
Ellis, The Divining Rod: A History of Water Witching, with a Bibliography p. 33; not in Barbier, Caillet, or Dorbon.