Arte de Fare il Vino per la Lombardia Austriaca e Metodi Practici per Fare I Migliori Vine Toscani in Risposta Specialmente alle Domande dell Soc. Patriotica di Milano.
Firenze: Presso Giuseppe Tofani e Compagno, 1790. Item #1434 8vo. 215 x 140 mm., [8 ½ x 5 ¾ inches]. [2 ff.], 74 p. [1 ff.]. Illustrated with three hand colored engraved plates. Bound in contemporary paste-paper boards, title letter on spine in ink; covers showing some discoloration with age, minor foxing to the preliminary leaves. This copy was a gift from the author to the noted Florentine collector Conte Piero Perucci, dated September 1790. The final leaf contains a list of nine books published by Fabbroni between the years 1782 and 1790. First edition. Important copy of Fabbroni’s “Art of Wine Making”, a publication that responded to a question posed by a local society that asked what the best and most practical methods were for making the best quality Tuscan wine. His response was to offer general rules that were adaptable to every estate and which could serve wine producers, small farmers, and sharecroppers. This book was recognized immediately after publication and was translated into German the same year and into French in 1801. The books contains chapters describing agricultural methods in Lombardi and Austria; characteristics of various grape vines and requirements for protecting them from disease; best methods for harvesting and pressing grapes; best materials for creating vats; and how wine should be stored. His final chapters described methods for making high quality Tuscan red and white wine. The three plates are colored by hand and probably were done for the presentation, as coloring is not usually found in a book as this sort. Adamo Fabbroni (1748-1816) was a member of the enlightened class in Tuscany who dedicated much of his thought and writings to using the scientific method to advance the quality of life for the rural classes. Along with his brother Giovanni and fellow enlightenment thinkers like Marco Lasti and G. A. Targoni, agricultural science was a way of achieving this end. He wrote a book on agriculture practices entitled Istruzioni Elementari di Agricultura, which focused on ways of applying chemical as well as natural fertilizers to protect crops and increase yields. He advocated for crop rotation, soil analysis, and new mechanical equipment which would help farmers produce more and varied crops. This work was dedicated to the Grand Duke of Tuscany, a fellow enlightenment leader who was in constant search for methods of advancing the condition of the Tuscan people. Fabbroni was a correspondent with Thomas Jefferson and sent a number of his papers to Jefferson, one of which elicited a reply.
Vittorio Niccoli. Saggio Storico e Bibliografico dell’Agricultura Italiana, p.513. Maria Paleari Henssler. Bibliografia Latino-Italiana di Gastronomia, p. 282. Lord Westbury. Handlist of Italian Cookery, p. 94. Renato Pasta. Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, V. 43, 1993.
Price: $3,200.00