DUHAMEL DU MONCEAU Henri Louis De l’exploitation des bois, ou moyens de tirer un parti avantageux des taillis, demi-futaies et hautes-futaies et d’en faire une juste estimation.

Not in Nissen, Pritzel, Hunt or Stafleu-Cowan.

First edition.

The book is divided into five large chapters : Du bois considéré physiquement ; Des taillis ; De la visite des futaies et de leur abattage ; De l’exploitation des futaies et De l’exploitation des bois-quarrés.

One of the great treatises by the founding father of modern forestry. De l’exploitation des bois not only describes the different types of wood in their “material” aspect, but also deals with the transport and industry of the material, as well as the most modern methods of the time for efficiently working this material. The treatise also deals with the manufacture and description of numerous parts for use in shipbuilding. It was originally with this in mind that Duhamel de Monceau was commissioned by the Académie des Sciences in 1731 to carry out a study on improving this material. Duhamel worked in collaboration with the young Buffon, with whom he soon fell out, accusing him of plagiarizing his ideas. It was not until 1754 that Jean-Baptiste de Machault d’Arnouville, who had just been appointed Secretary of State for the Navy (the author himself had been a naval inspector since 1739), asked Duhamel to write a treatise on forests.

Before this date, Duhamel Du Monceau was recognised as an agronomist and chemist, so he concentrated his work and research on wood and, through his various treatises, founded modern forestry, drawing on his extensive knowledge of trees, as demonstrated by the various works he wrote. The engravings depict different ways of exploiting wood and forestry techniques. Some plates describe how and where to cut the wood, as well as its composition.

Overall good copy.