3. Barry, Sir Edward / [Provenance: Charles Robert Scott-Murray (British Conservative politician)].
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 on Those of Bath [The City of Bath in Somerset]. Indagatio ipsa rerum tum maximarum tum etiam occultissimarum habet oblectationem. Si vero aliquid occuret quod verisimile videatur, humanissimacompletur animus volupate. CIC. in Lucullo. By Sir Edward Barry, Bart. Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and of the Royal Society.
First and only Edition. London, Printed for T.Cadell, in the Strand, 1775. Quarto (22.5 cm wide x 27 cm high). Pagination: Frontispice Engraving and Title Vignette by eminent english engraver, Isaac Taylor (1730-1807), XII, 479 pages, including an Appendix which is included in the pagination but focuses on an entirey of 58 pages on “Modern Wines” and their behaviours after being imported etc. Includes the Errata leaf to the rear. Original full calf with gilt lettering on spine. Front board cleanly detached. Bookblock in excellent, very clean condition and unusually wide margined for an 18th century Quarto. Provenance: This very rare publication by Cork City – born physician and MP, Sir Edward Barry, is known to be a pioneering study “in the scientific [and medical] analysis of wine, [it was] an influential work on the history of wine which ‘combined a good knowledge of classical literature, chemistry and worldly wisdom’ (Ó Raifeartaigh, 2)” (DIB). Provenance: The book has a fascinating history of provenance and belonged to two important libraries, manifested by two armorial bookplates, preserved on the pastedown and the endpaper. Provenance I: Charles Robert Scott-Murray (1818-1882) of Danesfield House in Medmenham, near Marlow, Buckinghamshire / Provenance II: The book was held until recently in one of the world’s most important collections on Wine and Oenology: The Library of Dr. Friedrich von Bassermann-Jordan (Bookplate present). The price of this book includes a repair or new binding to the liking of the buyer and also included is the creation of a Solander Box.