De la culture de la vigne et de la fabrication du vin
| Macro-category | Rare Books and Manuscripts |
| Subcategory | Gastronomy |
| Author | PUVIS, MARC-ANTOINE |
| Place of printing | Paris |
| Publisher / Maker | Mme Bouchard-Huzard |
| Year | 1848 |
Rare collection of treatises
on wine making and vine cultivation
Puvis, Marc-Antoine. De la culture de la vigne et de la fabrication du vin / par M.A. Puvis. Paris : Librairie agricole Dusacq, Mme Bouchard-Huzard, 1848.
[bound with:]
Puvis, Marc-Antoine. Des différens moyens d'amender le sol. Paris : Madame Huzard, 1837.
[bound with:]
Thackeray, Thomas James. Observations sur le fumier de basse-cour, les engrais artificiels, la construction des granges et le labourage profond. Paris : A LA LIBRAIRIE AGRICOLE DE Ve BOUCHARD-HUZARD, 7, RUE DE L'ÉPRON-ST-ANDRÉ. 1847.
3 vols in 1, (22 x 14 cm), contemporary half calf on handcoloured paper, gilt author’s name at spine, Vol 1: pp. ff. [2], pp. 318; Vol 2 pp. 212; Vol3: pp. 104.
Extremely rare collection of treatises on wine making and vine cultivation, agricultural technique on different ways of fertilizing the soil and on different kinds of natural and artificial fertilizers.
De la culture de la vigne et de la fabrication du vin is the most important opera written by the renowned agronomist and member of parliament Marc-Antoine Puvis [1776-1851], member of the Ain Agricultural Society, discussing the importance of wine making and vine cultivation in France, the influence of climate and soil, different vineyards (Côte-d'Or, Hermitage), influence of the grapes quality on the quality of the wines, search for new varieties of vines by the seedlings, plantation of the vine, size and disbudding, proving and uprooting, fertilizers and amendments, synonymy and variety of grapes.
The second part, pp. 167 to 308, is entirely dedicated to oenology, harvesting, de-stemming and crushing, hydrometer, oenometer, production of red wines and white wines, conservation and clarification of the wines, conditioning and improvement, bouquet and flavor; comparative analysis of Burgundy wines, etc.
Marc-Antoine Puvis is also the author of the second treatise, dealing with different kind of techniques of fertilizing the soil. Among the different techniques an material used to amend the soil he describes liming, or treating the soil with lime to reduce acidity and improve fertility or oxygen levels., marling, using a friable earthy deposit consisting of clay and calcium carbonate, used especially as a fertilizer for soils deficient in lime, faluner, to amend poor limestone soil with falun, a sedimentary rock made up of shells debris, the use of ash, peat ash, kelp, sea fertilizer, land mix, burnt clay, or burning the soil
The third treatise, written by Thomas James Thackeray, renowned British playwright, army officer, and agriculturist, can be considered a manual on benefits and way of use of different fertilizers, as: cattle droppings, horse urine, cow dung, guano, peat, bran, marl, salpetre and nitrate of potash, sulphate of ammonia, etc.
All the treatise included in the present collection are very rare. In detail:
Vol 1: Only one copy in Italian Libraries. WoldCat records only 6 other copies; 5 in France and 1 in UK. (the copy in Cornell University belongs to a different edition, with no date or printing place)
Vol 2: 4 copies worldwide, 2 each in France and Switzerland
Vol 3: 6 copies worldwide, 4 in France, 1 each in UK and Canada.
Bibliography: Bourquelot VI. 94. Unkwnown to Vicaire, Bitting. Oberlé
