A way to get wealth: Containing sixe Principall Vocations, or Callings, in which every good Husband, or House-wife may lawfully imploy themselves.

M[ARKHAM], G[ervase]

Edité par Printed by B[ernard] A[lsop] for John Harison, 1648 [i.e. 1649], London

A propos de cet article

Six parts in one. [28], 133, 136-188, [10], 118, [10], 252, [4], 24, [12], 158, [8], 134pp. Comprised of reissues: Cheape and good husbandry, 1648, seventh edition (Wing M611); Country contentments, 1649, sixth edition (Wing M620); The English house-wife, 1649, fifth edition (Wing M629); The inrichment of the weald of Kent, 1649 (Wing M637); Markham's farewell to husbandry, 1649, fourth edition (Wing M648); LAWSON, William. A new orchard, and garden, 1648, seventh edition (Wing L730). Title page of Cheape and good husbandry misbound before general title page. Contemporary blind-ruled calf. Rubbed and marked, slight loss to head of spine, corners exposed. Pastedowns sprung, occasional marginal minute worm-tracks, scattered spotting, dampstaining. A significant compilation of English poet and practical writer Gervase Markham's (1568?-1637) primary works on husbandry, veterinary procedure, recreational sports, and arable farming. Markham's influence on the agricultural and horticultural landscape of the seventeenth century cannot be understated. His principal work, Cheape and Good husbandry, first published in 1614, was widely read. The work is divided into two books, the first, 'Of Beasts', being predominantly concerned with equine management and medicine, and latterly the care of domesticated cattle, sheep, and goats. The second book, 'Of Poultry', is devoted to both wild and tame bird species, including hunting hawks, and the more exotic peacock. Bees are also placed in this category, with advice given to the budding apiarist on the establishment of thriving hives, concluding with the revelation of 'an excellent secret' that provides a somewhat spurious method for reviving a swarm killed by the winter climate: 'dash the Combes, and be- sprinckle them, and besmeare all the inside of the Hive with Hony, Rose-water, and the juyce of Fenell, mixt together, and daube all the stone therewith.and be well assured that the first Swarme which shall rise, either of your owne, of of any neighbour of yours within the compasses of a mile, it will knit to no place, but within that Hive.' The English Housewife, was arguably one of his most enduring works, it is described by Michael R. Best in his critical edition (Kingston-Montreal, 1986) as 'the most comprehensive, the most practical, and the most readable of the many books of instruction written for women in the early seventeenth century'. First published as the second of two books, the first dealing largely with equestrianism, of Countrey contentments (London, 1615), this early-modern guide to a the duties of a housewife was collated, with adaptations, from earlier sources in English and French - in common with many of Markham's diverse rustic and agricultural works. Included amongst these are the anonymous, likely medieval herbal commonly referred to as 'Bancke's' (London, 1525), and Charles Estienne's L'agriculture et maison rustique (Paris, 1569-70). The sixth and final work contained in the collection, A new orchard, and garden (1618) - the only published work of William Lawson (1553/4- 1635) â " is significant for its second section, The Countrie Housewifes Garden: it was the first horticultural work written specifically for women. A popular, eminently practical and indispensable seventeenth- century collection. Given their practical use, copies are rarely found in such good order as this for two reasons. Firstly, they no doubt suffered maltreatment on the farm and in the kitchen alike; secondly, the intervening centuries have seen owners, including booksellers, dividing the work into its component parts. ESTC R38886, Wing M675. The seventh time corrected, and augmented by the Author.

N° de réf. du vendeur AQ29585

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: A way to get wealth: Containing sixe Principall Vocations, or Callings, in which every good Husband, or House-wife may lawfully imploy themselves.
• Éditeur: Printed by B[ernard] A[lsop] for John Harison, 1648 [i.e. 1649], London