| Item Description: | Michael Laird, bookseller, description: Some age toning, early ink collector's stamp and signature to title page ("Cavare, Medecin"). Bound in a recent, thematic, hand embroidered binding, decorated with flowers and vines, with a central lozenge on the front board containing a singing Nightingale. The whole inspired by early 17th century English bookbinding and executed by Marie Cameron of Beaufou, France. First (and only) edition of one of the first books dedicated solely to the care, domestication, and feeding of the Nightingale. Our copy is preserved in a very sympathetic embroidered binding by Marie Cameron, and is signed on the back cover (in embroidery) with her monogram "MAC." As the title indicates, we learn about catching the Nightingale, taming them, feeding them safely in a cage, encouraging their singing throughout the year (a recipe for a special dough is provided), and -- most importantly -- how to care for them. There are useful illustrations and remarks on the nature of this excellent bird. The author states that previously the domestication of the Nightingale was kept secret by breeders; here all secrets are revealed. Michaut gives the author's name as "Arnault de Nobleville" (1701-1778). He was a graduate of the medical college at Orleans, and the author of a medical book for "Dames de Charite" (1747 and several subsequent editions), a 9-volume work on the natural history of animals (1756), and with Francois Salerne a textbook on botany (1767). |
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