BELOVED OF THE VIRTUES. Essay on land administration. Paris, Jean-Thomas Hérissant, 1759. In-8, marbled basane, decorated spine, red edges (contemporary binding).
Oncken, p. 358. - Spengler, pp 79-80.
Original edition.
The work, long attributed to François Quesnay, contains very interesting observations on rural property, the management and operation of seigneurial estates. In particular, it contains details on vineyards, ovens and mills, hunting and fishing.
The author considers that the true wealth of a state consists in the number of its inhabitants and that the population depends mainly on agriculture. He denounces the depopulation of the Maritime provinces, a consequence of the discovery of America, the trade of the Indies and the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, as well as the desertification of the countryside: since the Lords left their Castles to go to the big luxurious Disputed Cities, the lands have successively degenerated. [...] the Manufactures, encouraged by the profits of trade, have attracted the Farmers; it has seemed sweeter to work in the shade than to freeze in the open air: the countryside has become deserted (pp. 107-108).
Browning on the guards caused by greasy skin. Rubbing at the binding, nevertheless, pleasant copy.
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