Tableau de l'Agriculture Toscane

xiv, 327 pp. 8vo. Patterned leather spine, orange morocco spine labels, gilt titles and rules, paper over boards. French text. Fold-out of engraved agricultural illustrations follows text. The first work by the historian and political economist who became known for his French and Italian histories. Simonde details his life on a small farm in Pescia, which his family bought after fleeing from political unrest in Geneva caused by the French Revolution. His particular expertise was in the cultivation of olives for olive oil, and grapes for wine, though this work also provides general information about techniques for growing fruit-bearing trees, vegetables, and grains. Two years after the revolution was over, he returned to Geneva and published the work there. He later wrote an economic treatise designed to explain and popularize the ideas in Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations, while also championing the idea of using existing wealth to produce happiness rather than merely attempting to increase wealth. His histories of France and Italy were the turning point in his writing career, and established him as a man of letters.