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BARRY (SIR EDWARD): Observations Historical, Critical, and Medical, on the Wines of the Ancients. And the Analogy between them and Modern Wines. With General Observations on the Principles and Qualities of Water, and in particular those of Bath.
London: Printed for T. Cadell..., 1775. FIRST EDITION. 4to, pp. xii, 477 [480 errata], 2 engraved vignettes on title-page, engraved plate between pages 160 and 161, recently rebound in full red morocco, gilt borders on covers, gilt spine. An attractive copy. The directions to the binder call for the plate, which is labelled "Frontispiece" to be placed between pages 160 and 161, where indeed the text is about the illustration; however, in the other copies I have examined, the plate can appear as either frontispiece or, occasionally, between pages 160 and 161. No additional plate is called for. Sir Edward Barry, the Dublin-born physician, published the first scientific treatment of wine in Britain. The main text deals with the nature and properties of ancient Greece and Rome, while the appendix (some 60 pages) is devoted to modern wines. Although the work is now recognized for its innovations and is a valuable research document, it did not fare very well at the hands of an early reviewer, the irascible Gilbert Stuart. Writing in the Edinburgh Magazine and Review, IV (1775), he commented "the author appears to be acquainted with no theory of fermentation posterior to that of Boerhaave, and, in particular, he seems to be ignorant of the late ingenious discoveries concerning fixed air.... The author discovers considerable knowledge, and much acquaintance with the writers of antiquity. We are sorry, however, to observe, that the reader does not always obtain satisfaction." To soften these blows, he also comments, with some irony, on the binding of the copy he is reviewing, "The binding of the work is, nevertheless, fine, nay superlative, which, being the most important feature of a book, must therefore raise its value to an inestimable height." The binding here leaves a lot to be desired! Maclean, p. 8. Simon 168. Vicair, pp. 66-67.
Offered for GBP 1375.00 = appr. US$ 2249.50 by: John Price Antiquarian Books - Book number: 6548
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