The Natural History of Staffordshire by Robert Plot, 1686. Reprinted 1973.
Manchester: E.J. Morten, 1973. Facsimile Edition. Hardcover. Very Good Condition. Item #375758
ISBN: 0901598658
Plot's Natural History of Staffordshire remains one of the earliest and most ambitious attempts to describe an English county through the combined lenses of geology, minerals, fossils, flora, fauna and antiquities. Working with the curiosity and system of an early Royal Society scholar, Plot records mines, quarries, medicinal springs, archaeological remains and local customs in meticulous seventeenth-century detail. The 1973 E.J. Morten reprint provides a faithful, well-produced edition of this foundational regional study. Central to the volume is Plot's large engraved county map, among the first systematic efforts to chart Staffordshire, framed by the crests of its principal families. The accompanying 37 plates are dominated by engraved views of the county's great houses; Trentham, Enville, Chillington and others, rendered in crisp architectural elevation with gardens, avenues and waterworks carefully delineated. These images serve both as topographical records and as expressions of landed authority, forming with the map an unusually coherent visual survey of Staffordshire's built landscape long before the eighteenth-century vogue for county views. As a whole, Plot's work stands at the transition between antiquarian inquiry and the emerging scientific method. By treating minerals, fossils, plants, animals, customs and architecture as parts of a single observable system, he helped define the possibilities of "local science" and set a model for later county surveys. His integration of map, plates and empirical description influenced the Society of Antiquaries and shaped the natural-history and topographical traditions of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, securing the book's lasting significance. Bound in a good mock-leather style reproduction of a period binding, with gilt decorated boards, gilt ruled bands & decoration to the spine, contrasting lettering piece, gilt lettered. Mild foxing to the page edges. Large folding map (with coloured errata), 37 plates (26 double page County House Views), 18 pages, 450 pages, 10 page index. Size: 24 x 35 cms. Category: Antiquarian & Rare; New Arrivals; ISBN: 0901598658. ISBN/EAN: 9780901598653. This item may require more postage than the rates shown for delivery outside the UK. If extra postage is required we will contact you before processing your order and you will be given the details and option to decline the extra cost.
Keywords: BZDB395 Antiquarian & Rare; New Arrivals; Unbranded ISBN: 0901598658 EAN: 9780901598653 ROBERT PLOT'S STAFFORDSHIRE: MAP, MANSIONS AND HISTORY The Natural History of Staffordshire by Robert Plot, 1686. Reprinted 1973.
Price: £149.95