Concise Notices of the Indigenous Grasses of Ireland,

Glasnevin: , 1843. An incredible collection of native grasses, presented to specialists in the trade First and sole edition, presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "To the Messrs Lawson with the author's complements". An uncommon and naturally fragile work, traced in ten institutions worldwide. The Lawsons were likely the Edinburgh nurserymen Peter and Charles Lawson of Lawson & Son, founded in 1770: "prominent agricultural nurserymen of the day", whose "prizes for dissection of grasses, for kinds of cereals, and like subjects, were constant reminders of the relations of botanical study to agriculture" (Balfour, p. 47). The units "lb", "s", and "d" have been added in manuscript to each of the seed and price charts, and further minor textual corrections have been made to the sample labels. Moore (1808-1879) was the director of the Royal Dublin Society's Botanic Garden for over 40 years, including across the time of the Great Famine during which he conducted research into the potato blight. He confirmed the disease was caused by a fungus and not atmospheric conditions as was previously thought. His observations of the disease in potatoes in the Botanic Garden on 20 August 1845 are the first verified record of the disease in Ireland. The present work is part of his extensive body of research on the native grasses of the British Isles. His recommendations regarding grass species for the composition of good pasture have been cited as a precursor to contemporary techniques for ensuring varied agricultural ecosystems. Provenance: Ownership inscription of one David Black on the front free endpaper. Bookplate of the Bibliotheca Lindesiana on the front pastedown, the Balcarres shelf label with shelf mark in manuscript beneath. Small folio. With 48 grass samples mounted within paper slits, some mounted 2 to a page, with adjacent text labels printed in black within decorative frames. Woodcut depicting an auctioneer and a yacht removed from separate work and pasted to final leaf. Original half sheep, marbled paper sides, green title label printed in black to front cover, white cloth ties to both covers. Sheep stripped to spine, edges worn, boards rubbed, slight loss to title label not affecting text, foxing to contents, front inner hinge starting but firm, grass samples remarkably well-preserved and complete, a very good copy. Isaac Bayley Balfour, A Sketch of the Professors of Botany in Edinburgh from 1670 until 1887, 1913.