Search Results: Titles starting with M from Patrick Olson Rare Books

DATA-DRIVEN PROVINCIAL GRIEVANCES ON THE EVE OF REVOLUTION ¶ [6], 46; xj, [1]; 64 p. | 4to | pi1(=F1?) 2pi^2 A-E^4 F^4(F1=pi1?); A-C^2; a-h^4 | 246 x 193 mm ¶ First and only edition of this provincially produced report that both expounds local injustices and exposes corruption of the ancien régime at the national level. The author himself was born into a noble, but destitute, family, and had to earn his own in the Bourgogne army regiment. In the preface, he stakes out his position for an increasingly restive populace: "All those who can serve to develop the oppressive administration's disadvantages, under which we moan, should be placed in broad daylight by those who have succeeded in being well informed." In this spirit, the authors—Romainville uses nous, underscoring a cooperative effort—have worked from "knowledge that few people have been able to obtain, having given much time to the accuracy of the research and the results that we have drawn from it." ¶ More than an eloquent call to arms,… Read More

LATEST MARITIME ADVANCEMENTS MADE USEFUL ¶ 136 p. | [A]^4 B-R^4 | 4to | 206 x 142 mm ¶ The 1761 edition of this annual almanac for sailors, which had begun in 1676. Numerous diagrams throughout, plus four woodcut illustrations providing instruction in the use of the quadrant and compass (p. 20, 63, 64, and 66). With tables for the phases of the moon, tides, the sun's position, latitude and longitude of countless destinations, and more. Publisher's ads on verso of the half-title. ¶ "Soon after the middle of the eighteenth century, improvements in the design and construction of astronomical and nautical instruments, coupled with the increased accuracy of tables of the Moon's motion, at last made the accurate determination of longitude at sea by lunar distance a practical possibility" (Forbes). This almanac, and others like it, placed this critical information in sailors' hands in a portable format. ¶ With three ink stamps on the half-title, accompanied by a printed explanation: "Stampt… Read More