[AGRICULTURE] [RURAL NEW YORK] Address delivered on the 29th of September, 1824, before the Jefferson County Agricultural Society

Octavo, [blank], 24, [blank]. A good copy in the publisher's side-sewn wrappers. Front wrap perished, rear wrap holding on. Notable dampstain and attendant discoloration to the fore-edge throughout, though the discoloration barely approaches the text. SIGNED by Le Ray de Chaumont on the first bpank: "To James B. Murray, from the author." James Le Ray de Chaumont should not be confused with his famous father Jacques-Donatien Le Ray de Chaumont, who was one of the French "Fathers of the American Revolution," and a close friend of--and host to--Benajmin Franklin during Franklin's diplomatic trips to Paris. The son, born and raised in France, went to America in the 1780s, and purchased large tracts of land in far upstate New York. The towns of Le Ray and Chaumont, both in Jefferson County, are named for him. This address, given towards the end of his life, discusses a number of agricultural topics in rapid succession, and bears the hallmarks of a man drawing from the confidence of his long experience in farming. His signature is scarce, as is the pamphlet itself. The subjec tof hte inscription, James B. Murray, is not easy to track down, although someone of that name is mentioned in the archive of the Bronson Family, held at NYPL. Murray is named as one of a number of individuals who, along with the Bronsons, was involved in land speculation in Jefferson County in the 1820s. American Imprints 16883; Rink 1308. Not in Sabin.…