Practical Geometry Applied to the Useful Arts of Building, Surveying, Gardening and Mensuration; Calculated for the Service of Gentlemen as well as Artisans, and set to View in Four Parts

A good copy of the very scarce 1st edition with 39 (of 41) folding plates. At the time this book was published, Batty Langley (1696-1751) was a designer of landscape gardens with particular interest in classical proportion and design. It was his first published work, and many of plates show designs for gardens and garden ornamentation. He later moved into architecture. This copy has contemporary panelled calf boards and a newer matching spine with raised bands and title label. The boards are scuffed and there is some ring marking on the back board, but they are bright and clean. The corners have been rebuilt. Internally the endpapers have been retained with taping at the joints. There are some ink sums on the rear pastedown and a little marking on the front free endpaper. Contents: rubricated title; dedication 2pp; Preface pp i-viii; Table of Contents with errata 8pp; text pp 1-136 with some plates in the text and a series of plates at the rear. Plates 30 and 40 are missing. Text with decorative initial capitals, headpieces and tailpieces. There is some mispagination (89-78-79-92 and 95-66-97) but the text is continuous. There is some annotation - generally sums and figures in the margins - at pp 111/112 some of the ink has run and blotched. There is some staining and marking - with a larger stain in the top gutter and edge at pp 43-66, and some persistent staining in the bottom corners. There are some professional paper repairs: the gutter of the title page and some of the plates - mainly to edges not affecting the subject apart from plate32 where there is small loss on the design. Please enquire if you would like to see additional images to further assess condition.…