Susanne Schulz-Falster Catalogue Fifteen

26 [EDUCATION.] Rath eines Vaters an seinen studirenden
Sohn. Leipzig and Jena, C. Weigel and A. B. Schneider, 1791. £380
8vo, pp. [xii], 52, with four page publisher’s advertisement from Weigel
and Schneider; title with blackened stamp; booklabel of the school library
Idstein and with early presentation inscription.
First edition of a charming guide to university life written by a father for
his son. The advice is specifically meant for middle class students, especially
those with limited funds. The anonymous author covers all aspects of student
life, from housing – don’t share a flat with another student, as it will
prove detrimental to your studies and don’t start a liaison with the landlady
– to the selection of classes, possible friends and associates, useful occupations
during the holidays etc. A separate section is devoted to finding a
suitable career – but most importantly the author warns against becoming
a perpetual or ‘professional’ student. Three years at university is sufficient –
most modern day parents of university students will agree.
Not in Erman-Horn or Holzmann-Bohatta; not found in GV; KVK and OCLC
list one copy at Augsburg.
The Beginning of Agricultural Chemistry
27 [FABBRONI, Giovanni.] Reflexions sur l’etat actuel de
l’Agriculture; ou Exposition du véritable plan pour cultiver ses terres
avec le plus grand avantage, & pour se passer des engrais. Paris,
Nyon, 1780. £550
8vo, pp. xxii, 294, [1]; tables in the text; brown stain to C10–12, else
clean and crisp; uncut in the original pink wrappers, spine label lettered
in manuscript; a little dog-eared, and head and foot of spine chipped; a
very good copy, with author’s name noted in ink on the title.
First edition of Fabbroni’s remarkable treatise on the state or agriculture and
agricultural reform, in which he developed new techniques in agronomy
and cultivation, based on procedures of pneumatic chemistry. Fabbroni’s
work contributed considerably to the application of chemistry to the study
of the plant world, and the beginning of agricultural chemistry.
Fabbroni (1752–1822), a strong supporter of the Leopoldine reforms in
Tuscany, was vociferous in his defence of free trade and rejected all forms of
restrictions of the trade in grain. He was assistant to Felice Fontana in the
Museum of Physics and Natural Sciences in Florence, where he later became
assistant director in 1780 and director in 1805. From 1776 to 1778 he lived
in Paris and then in London, and frequented enlightened and radical circles
in both cities. During this time he also met and corresponded with both
Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson.
Goldsmiths’–Kress 11983.3; see M. M. Libelli in IESS and M. Gliozzi in DSB.
catalogue fifteen