Bauman Rare Books Early 2020 Online Catalogue

P A S T I M E S B A U M A N R A R E B O O K S • E A R L Y 2 0 2 0 O N L I N E 229 ©2020 Bauman Rare Books www.baumanrarebooks.com 1-800-97-BAUMAN (1-800-972-2862) “Plant, Perfect And Cultivate A Vineyard, And Make Good Wholesome Wine” REEMELIN, Charles. The Vine-Dresser’s Manual, An Illustrated Treatise on Vineyards and Wine-Making. New York, 1855. Small octavo (5 by 7-7/8 inches), original brown cloth. $2200. View on Website 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. Interior generally fresh with light foxing, nearly pristine original cloth. Near-fine.