Paris, Michel Lambert, 1785. 8vo (19.5 x 13.0 cm). 554 pp. Contemporary full mottled calf. Spine with gilt lines, floral vignettes and brown morocco label with gilt title. Gilt-lined board edges. Marbled endpapers. All edges red.

The most important work on natural history of its time, originally written by Gaius Plinius Secundus (23-79 CE), known as Pliny the Elder. The work of Pliny has remained authoritative for over 1,500 years and is still important in understanding the way people looked and still look at animals and plants, their origin, and their relation to man. Many names already used by Pliny were later validated to become genus names in botany and zoology. The work contains many chapters on botanical subjects, including trees, herbs, and gardening. The French writer and scholar Pierre Claude Bernard Guéroult (1744-1821) presents sections of the original Latin text (on the page versos) along his translation (on the rectos) and added many notes. This is the first edition of Guéroult's translation. A few small imperfections to the spine, otherwise a fine, clean, attractively bound copy. Rare, especially in this excellent state. Brunet, p. 719 (listing two reprints, in 1809 and 1824).