Recueil des planches du dictionnaire encyclopedique de l’art aratoire et du jardinage

Paris: H. Agasse, 1802. Title + 54 engraved plates (2 are double-page), all signed G. [Robert] Benard. Contemporary binder’s boards (spine worn), paper label on spine. Pastedowns made from partially completed Promesse d’Inscription forms. Complete and uncut. First edition of this compendium of illustrations of garden tools, hatcheries, irrigation systems, farming equipment, barns, grain stores, and planting apparatuses, showing the latest technology and innovation in agriculture. It was created to accompany the 62nd volume of the Encyclopédie méthodique, Art aratoire et du jardinage, Paris: 1797, but this is a standalone publication. Each plate is numbered and captioned with a short description, and many show the machine in use. The production of this suite was positioned in the middle of the Industrial Revolution and illustrates the transition to mechanized farming.

Graesse II: 477; Brunet II: 973.