PBA Galleries

iv, (10), 719 + [1] ad pp. With  copper engraved frontispiece and 12 copper-engraved plates, one of which is double-page, engraved headpieces, tailpieces and other illustrations. (Folio) 40x24 cm (16x10") later half calf and brown cloth, raised spine bands with tooled compartments, morocco spine label lettered in gilt, new endpapers. First Edition.

The full title of the volume goes on to mention crops, breeding and preserving cattle, curing their diseases, managing the orchard, the brewhouse and the dairy. The plates include farming implements, plants, plans, buildings and one of a dung pit. Most plates have several figures. Little is known about Thomas Hale's life, as no records exist. He probably died around 1759. His main work was A Compleat Body of Husbandry, published between 1756 and 1758 in four volumes. The work was translated into French by Jean-Baptiste Dupuy-Demportes and published in 1763 as Le gentilhomme cultivateur, ou corps complet d'agriculture. It is known that George Washington owned a copy of  the work.