Traité théorique et pratique sur la culture des grains, suivi de l'art de faire le pain.

2 vol., 8vo: [4]-viii-472, [4]-xii-[1 bl.]-574 pp.; 16 pl. (some browning).

Sewn, green wrappers (used, front wrapper of 2nd vol. loose). Uncut copy.

First edition of this major work, both as regards agriculture and bread-making, written by Parmentier in collaboration with Abbé Rozier, Lasteyrie and Abbé Delalause. Ill. with an engr. front. showing a map of France and 15 engr. fold. plates at the end of the 2nd vol. Parmentier (1737-1813), French pharmacist and agronomist, is best remembered as a vocal promoter of the potato as a food source for humans in France and throughout Europe - a cultivated foodstuff that was first opposed by the medical profession which believed that the potato caused leprosy. One of his many contributions to nutrition and health included pioneering the extraction of sugar from sugar beets. Parmentier also founded a school of bread-making, and studied methods of conserving food, including refrigeration. This book, although first and foremost an extensive work on the cultivation of various grains and the study of the agrarian systems of the Roman and the French, also includes a significant section on bread and bread-making, analysing the various types of flour (wheat, maize, buckwheat), the bread-making systems, and different types of bread and biscuits.
Ref. BnF. - COPAC.