The Influence of the Blue Ray of the Sunlight and of the Blue Colour of the Sky, in Developing Animal and Vegetable Life; in Arresting Disease, and in Restoring Health in Acute and Chronic Disorders to Human and Domestic Animals, as Illustrated by the Experiments of Gen. A. J. Pleasonton, and Others, between the Years 1861 and 1876. Addressed to the Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture. [Gilt lettering on front cover: Blue and Sun-Lights Their Influence Upon Life, Disease &c. By Gen. A. J. Pleasanton]

PLEASANTON, Gen. A. J. [Augustus James]

Published by Philadelphia: Claxton, Remsen & Haffelfinger, Publishers, 1877.

Frontispiece, 1 leaf [title page], iv, 1 leaf [Preface to the Last Edition], [5]-38, 185 pp; text figure on p. 95. Except for the frontispiece, the text leaves are printed on blue paper (see photos). Original blue cloth.
IMPORTANT CONDITION NOTE: Covers and text leaves are dampstained with noticeable rippling of the blue cloth and blue paper (see photos). With bookplate of Boston Library Society and ink stamp of the Society on the title page. Paper label with ink call number on spine.
Second printing (originally published in 1876). I found only one difference between the 1876 and 1877 printings. In the case of two pages, the text is printed on two leaves in 1876 whereas it is on the recto and verso of one leaf in 1877. However the text on those two pages is identical in the two printings.
IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT OCLC: In an OCLC search for the author, with a date range of 1871-1877, none of Pleasanton's writings come up. But in a search for the title only, or even just the word "sunlight", with the same date range of 1871-1877, many copies come up. CONCLUSION: The book is not scarce in libraries.
In 1871 Pleasanton published a much shorter work of 24 pages with a similar title: On the Influence of the Blue Color of the Sky in Developing Animal and Vegetable Life: as Illustrated in the Experiments of Gen. A. J. Pleasonton, between the years 1861 and 1871 at Philadelphia: Read before the Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture, on Wednesday, May 3, 1871. Philadelphia: Inquirer Book and Job Print., 1871.
Quoting Wikipedia about Augustus Pleasanton: "Apparently influenced by Robert Hunt's research into the effect of different wavelengths of light on the growth of plants, in his later years, Gen. Pleasonton came to a theory that the blue wavelengths from the sun are inherently unique and that the blue rays from the sun are especially influential in the growth of plant and animal life. He also postulated that blue light was especially significant in the health of humans and helped eradicate disease. This theory . . . is often credited as being the birth of modern chromotherapy. Chromotherapy, also called color therapy, . . . states that certain colors can influence the health of a person. His basis for his theory was that plants flourished in the spring time and not in the winter, when the sky was less blue. Between the years 1861 and 1876, he tested this theory by establishing greenhouses to grow grapes and ran experiments on plants and animals. His grape experiment consisted of growing grapes in a greenhouse-like building in which the panes of glass alternated between colourless and blue. He claimed that this method greatly increased his production of grapes. . . . Pleasonton's theory led to what was called the 'Blue-glass Craze', whereby people began growing crops under blue light. Soon, blue panes of glass were being sold as a way to increase crop production. After Pleasonton's findings, scientist Dr. Seth Pancoast studied the blue-light phenomenon and described his findings in his book Blue and Red Light; or, Light and Its Rays as Medicine. . . which was published in 1877. Edwin Dwight Babbitt was also influenced by this concept and published a book about chromotherapy in 1878, entitled The Principles of Light and Color."
Strong opinions have been expressed about Chromotherapy as quackery and pseudoscience, but I will leave that matter to others. Seller Inventory # 17742

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Influence of the Blue Ray of the ...
Publisher: Philadelphia: Claxton, Remsen & Haffelfinger, Publishers, 1877.
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Fair