An Essay on Brewing, with a View of Establishing the Principles of the Art

London: R. and J. Dodsley, 1758. First Edition. Leather bound. Very good. An important work helping to establish the science of brewing, particularly through the use of the thermometer. Combrune was a professional brewer and a proponent of consistency in production. The vignette on the title page depicts an eagle carrying a thermometer over a barley field.

"I know very well, that good beer was made before the Thermometer was known, and still is, by many, who are entirely ignorant of it, as if it had never been invented: but this is always by chance; and they cannot but confess they frequently fail; whereas, did they but properly apply this instrument, they certainly never would (p. 71)." For brewers without access to a thermometer, Combrune provides formulas for combining boiling water with cold water in proportion to achieve an estimated temperature (p. 64).

He also makes a case for beer over wine, "Physicians have given it as their opinion, that strong drinks from Malt are less pernicious than those produced from grapes (p. 134)."

Combrune's book begins with a dictionary of brewing terms, followed by chapters on the classical elements, a section on the thermometer, another on barley, and several on malt.

xvi, 216 pages. Small octavo. The contents leaf is bound in at the rear, as is often seen (the correct position cannot be determined from the catchwords). One corner missing from the first leaf of section one (not affecting text); various old ownership signatures, one dated 1801, and a private library bookplate on the pastedowns and endpapers. The binding is calf, rebacked at an early date but with modern gilt stamping on the spine. A solid copy of a book that is far less common than Combrune's Theory and Practice of Brewing, which was published four years later.