[2], vi, xii, 298, [1, errata] pp. (4to) 25.3x21 cm (10x8¼"), period speckled full calf with modern rebacking, maroon lettering piece retained, large margin copy. First Edition.
A classic of 18th century beer literature. Michael Combrune was a philosophically inclined brewer who sought to introduce the thermometer as a diagnostic tool in brewing. "The choice of format would have sent a clear message to the readers of the day: here was not a cheap, portable manual of practical advice aimed principally at the literate artisan brewer, but (at least in intention) a bona fide philosophical treatise, fit to grace the shelves of a gentleman's library. Combrune was bidding to be seen, not as a communicator of philosophical ideas, but as a philosopher in his own right." - Sumner, "Michael Combrune, Peter Shaw and Commerical Chemistry: The Boerhaavian Chemical Origins of Brewing Thermometry," Ambix, Vol. 54, No. 1. March 2007.
The theory and practice occupy separate parts of the book. Combrune's earlier work, An Essay on Brewing (first published in 1758), was the first significant beer-making text to recommend the use of the thermometer. In the current work, An Essay occupies the first part of the work, largely in unamended form. "The second section is entirely new, laying ou explicit arithmetical computations of the relationships between malt character, mashing heats, hop rates and fermentation times on a basis which is entirely thermometric."
Condition:
Some stains, scratches and scuffs, corners repaired; light foxing, a few mild stains within, a few pencil marks; very good overall.