Attributed to John Fitzherbert. Also sometimes attributed to Sir Anthony Fitzherbert. Imprint from colophon. Running title reads: Surueyenge. Signatures: A-H⁸.
"8vo., pp. [iv] 60. Black letter, title within elaborate architectural border (McKerrow 34) a.e.g., outer margin of 2 ll. restored, repair to f2 without loss, light yellowing to t-p and final leaf.. A very good, well-margined copy in early 19th C calf, sextuple-ruled in blind with double corner bosses and fleurons, single gilt rule, spine gilt in 6 compartments, morocco label. 19th C bookplate of E.R. Debenham on pastedown, armorial bookplate of W.A. Potter to fly.
A new edition of 'Surveyinge' adding considerably to our knowledge of the rural economy of Tudor England. The treatise was designed as a handy manual for landowners and their agents, covering i.a. the construction of castles and other buildings and the design of gardens, the number and value of acres in a field, the livestock capacity of meadows, the comparative values of wooded and unwooded lands, common land, disposing of foreign land, the 'herbage' of towns, the value of heath, moorland and mines, issues of tenancy and stewardship including different orders of tenants, succession to land, principles of cottaging, the duties of surveyors, how to 'butte and bounde' various pastures, improving the quality of land, using lime and marl both for manure and to destroy heath, and by means of irrigation and draining. The work concludes with an enquiry about how to increase the value of a township, advocating the transition from communal or open field to individual or enclosure farming. This is one of the most important works of the modern vernacular literature on practical topics which began to appear in England at around this time, offering advice to the non-scholarly reader.
All editions of this work, first printed by Pynson, are rare, often known only in one or two, sometimes imperfect copies, this is the second edn. in practice still attainable."
Measurements: 14.5 cm x 9.75 cm
Full pdf available, https://dl.mospace.umsystem.edu/mu/islandora/object/mu%3A446428/datastre...
