"PLANT, PERFECT AND CULTIVATE A VINEYARD, AND MAKE GOOD WHOLESOME WINE": FIRST EDITION OF REEMELIN'S VINE-DRESSER'S MANUAL, WITH WOODCUT-ENGRAVED FRONTISPIECE, IN ORIGINAL CLOTH

REEMELIN, Charles. The Vine-Dresser's Manual, An Illustrated Treatise on Vineyards and Wine-Making. New York: C.M. Saxton, 1855. Small octavo (5 by 7-7/8 inches), original blind-stamped brown cloth. $2200.

First edition of the important first book by one of 19th-century America's most trusted figures in learning "the Vintners' business" and the art of wine-making, with woodcut-engraved frontispiece and over 20 in-text engraved illustrations, a handsome copy in original cloth.

In the 1850s Reemelin, a German immigrant who became a prominent Ohio legislator, decided, in his words, to allow "myself to be tempted to plant five acres of vineyard" (Life, 122). Drawing on his first-hand experience and an extensive knowledge of European vineyards, Reemelin authored this "very popular manual… a practical guide written 'so that even the most inexperienced may, with this book in hand, start, plant, perfect and cultivate a vineyard, and make good wholesome wine…[he] recommended planting only the native Catawba in the Ohio Valley and the Isabella in the East" (Gabler, 223). Reemelin concludes this wonderfully plain-spoken guide by encouraging all Americans to enjoy the benefits of wine, which "may with great advantage form a part of the food of our people." During the Civil War Reemelin was an important figure in planning his state's defense against the Confederacy. With woodcut-engraved frontispiece and numerous engraved illustrations. Two leaves of publisher's advertisements at rear.

Interior generally fresh with light foxing, nearly pristine original cloth. Near-fine.