MAISON RUSTIQUE OR THE COUNTREY FARME. Compyled in the French tongue by Charles Stevens, and John Liebault, Doctors of Physicke. And translated into English by Richard Surflet, practitioner in physicke. Now newly reviewed, corrected, and augmented, by MARKHAM, Gervase. Charles ESTIENNE and Jean LIEBAULT.:

London, Adam Islip for John Bill, 1616.. with divers large additions, out of the works of Serres his Agriculture, Vinet his Maison champestre, French. Albyterio in Spanish, Grilli in Italian; and other authors. And the husbandrie of France, Italie, and Spaine, reconciled and made to agree with ours here in England: by Gervase Markham. FIRST EDITION of Markham's revised English translation1616, small folio in sixes, approximately 280 x 180 mm, 11 x 7 inches, farming vignette on title page, 39 woodcut illustrations, historiated initials and headpieces and many small decorated initials, pages: [18], 732, [18], contents on verso title page, LACKS THE LAST 4 PAGES OF TABLE OF DISEASES AND FIRST AND FINAL BLANK LEAF, bound in library style half morocco, matching cloth sides, the original gilt lettered label to spine, new cream endpapers. Shallow vertical crease to spine, a few pale marks to covers, small neat repair to bottom edge of title page on verso, pale age-browning to title page and following page, 2 long closed tears neatly repaired, no loss, small closed tear on 2 lower margins neatly repaired, no loss, small worm hole to lower margins, ending on page 312, nowhere near text or images, pale staining to inner margins and some text of the first 30 pages (see attached images), old ink splashes to 3 pages, on text but all legible, small pale stain to outer margins of most pages, small pale stain to a few top corners, a few side notes to dedication trimmed with slight loss, lower margins of plates a little dusty, some pale staining to other margins, 3 corners tips missing, nowhere near text, occasional small light stains, pale age-browning to some inner margins, occasional loss to letters due to stains and rust spots, 2 pages with neat marginalia and pointing hands in old ink, old ink name at the top of page 276, 2 book-plates to front endpaper, text mostly clean. A good copy of the enlarged edition by Gervase Markham. The first edition of 1600 was the first English translation by Richard Surflet of L'Agriculture et Maison Rustique, the first book of its kind to appear in French. It was first published by Charles Estienne in Latin in Paris in 1554, then translated into French and enlarged by Estienne's son-in-law Jean Liebault and published in Paris in 1564. The work is a thorough-going treatise on agriculture, horticulture, viticulture, forestry, wines and food, distilling, bee-keeping, gardening and orchards, fishing, all kinds of hunting including falconry, remedies for man and animals etc. In its day it was the most important work on rural economy of the 16th century and was very successful, going into many editions and translated additionally into Italian, Dutch and German. See: Poynter, A Bibliography of Gervase Markham 1568-1637, pages 148-150, No. 31; Fussell, Old English Farming Books, page 84-90; Aslin, Books on Agriculture 1471-1840, page 45; Andre Simon, Bibliotheca Gastronomica, page 97, No. 1003; Dingley, Historic Books on Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, No. 246. MORE IMAGES ATTACHED TO THIS LISTING, ALL ZOOMABLE, FURTHER IMAGES ON REQUEST. POSTAGE AT COST.