A New Booke of good Husbandry, very pleasaunt, and of great profite both for Gentlemen and Yomen: Conteining, The Order and maner of making Fish-pondes, with the breeding, preserving, and multiplying of the Carpe, Tench, Pike, and Troute, and diverse kindes of other Fresh-fish.

London: “Imprinted at London by William White dwelling in Cow-Lane", 1599 The first edition in English translation. The Lawes Agricultural Library copy. Rebound small 4to, (measuring 5 ¼ x 7 inches), in modern hard cover, with brown three quarter buckram and leather, titles to spine in gilt. **Collation: pp [4] 1-32 [lacking 33-36], 37 [1] where the pages are only numbered recto. A4-I4, [lacking K1-K4], L2, i.e., lacking a total of 4 leaves. **Condition: Good antiquarian condition. Aquisition markings, in pencil and pen, and inked stamp to endpapers. Ownership names to title page in old ink, are trimmed, as is the running head to title page, and at least one decoration at page head on successive leaf. Leaves are somewhat soiled, showing good use in the field. Some loss at bottom of first signature not affecting text. One worm hole near gutter. In addition, there are a number of charming decorative woodcut capitals, some historiated. Several type styles are used, including Roman, Italic and Black Letter. A table of contents is provided at the rear. Annotations in ink appear in at least two different seventeenth-century hands, on recto of leaf 1 and recto A4 (see below). Occasional underlining in old ink, a maniculus with a gauntlet type of cuff, and what is presumed to be a hand-drawn pond plan (with drainage channels??) overmark text in places on p.28 and (offset to facing leaf).***There are four separate annotations of interest, as noted above. One appears to be directions for repairing a piece of equipment used in the building of ponds; two others (written in a hand that indicates "yeoman" rather than "gentleman") appear to be recipes; and the last has tips on the keeping of small game meant for the table. I hesitate to ruin the paleographical fun of a potential purchaser, so I will say no more! These additions, however, along with Dubravius's fishing anecdotes within, liven up the otherwise fact-filled text.***The translation was from the original Latin, first published in 1547 as De piscinis et piscium...The significance of this work on aqua-culture and pond-building lies in its revival of information from antique sources by the Bohemian (Czech-born) humanist scholar and Bishop of Olmütz, Janus Dubravius (1463-1553.) Dubravius gave Roman writer's such as Varro, Vetruvius, Columnella, Pliny and Ausonius a new audience of sixteenth and seventeenth Europeans. The keeping of fresh-water fish has been identified by scholars as a significant status symbol from medieval times. Salt water fish held no such appeal, considered common and easier to access. First published in Latin in Breslau in 1547, this first English translation, sponsored by George Churchey, "a fellow of Lion's Inn," has been noted as a source in some quite notable subsequent books, among them Izaak Walton's The Complete Angler of 1653, and Alicia Amhearst's A History of Gardening in England of 1895. The popularity of the book is attested to by the various reprints by others in the following centuries. ***The printer William White, (b. 1558) "dwelling in Cow-Lane," London, worked close to the Smithfield market. After an apprenticeship, he "self-published" a small number of titles, later taking on less financial risk as merely a trade printer to other stationers. This book is, therefore, rare in that regard as well. Very rare in any condition: only a handful of copies have been sold at auction in the last forty years.***Literature: Dubravius: CERL cnp01326943. Pollard and Redgrave, STC 7268. Aslin, Mary S., "Library Catalogue of Printed Books and Pamphlets on Agriculture Published Between 1471 and 1840, Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden, " (Lawes Agricultural Library,) University of Aberdeen, Publisher, 1940, p. 51. T. Westwood, "A New Biblioteca Piscatoria" (1861) p. 24. Christopher Currie, "Fishponds as Garden Features 1550-1750," (Spring 1990), Garden History, The Gardens Trust, pp.22-46. David L. Gants, "The London Booktrade 1614-1618," Studies in Bibliography, Bibliographical Society, Univ. of Virginia (2002) pp.185-213. Cora E. Lutz, Yale Univ. Gazette (July, 1973.*** Provenance: John Bennet Lawes Agricultural Library, Rothamsted Agicultural Research Station, Harpenden, England. (Acquired by them in 1918.) . First Edition. Hard Cover. Good antiquarian condition.