MEIL, Johann Wilhelm.

£10,000 · Offered by Peter Harrington · No longer available

Spectaculum Naturae & Artium, First edition of both volumes of this rare polyglot pictorial encyclopaedia of trades, technology, crafts, and nature, with the text in four columns in German, Latin, French and Italian. The attractive illustrations cover beekeeping, printing, engraving, bricklaying and other trades, as well as scientific and military equipment. The work was aimed at children, and its various languages no doubt intended it for a continent-wide market. The work is scarce, with WorldCat listing only eight institutions with both volumes.Provenance: The Lawes Agricultural Library, with their neat stamp and shelf marks to pastedown. The library was assembled in the early 20th century by Sir John Russell, director of the Rothamsted agricultural research institution in Hertfordshire, and ranked as one of the finest English collections of agricultural material.

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