A collection of fifteen county reports on the present state of agriculture in Scotland produced for the Board of Agriculture under the direction of Sir John Sinclair.

[SCOTTISH AGRICULTURE.]

Published by Edinburgh and London, 1794-5. 18??

About this Item

15 works, 4to, various paginations, with engraved plates and maps; generally slightly dusty at the extremities else very good, stitched as issued, some in the original blue drab paper wrappers.The agricultural improver and social campaigner Sir John Sinclair had long desired a Board of Agriculture 'as a means of publicizing agricultural developments, advising the government, spreading information, conducting experiments, and promoting legislation'. Finally Pitt granted him an annual stipend of £3000. 'The board was nearer to a voluntary society than to a branch of government. Its main element was a core of thirty-one "ordinary" members chosen from both houses of parliament, who included the leading agricultural publicists. These formed a closed corporation electing their own successors. To these were added "official" members, nineteen in all, including the great officers of state, the leading bishops, the mayor of London, and the president of the Royal Society … Sinclair had hoped that the board would conduct a survey of England similar to the Statistical Account [of Scotland], but this was frustrated by the archbishop of Canterbury, who would not allow an investigation which would lay emphasis on the topic of tithe. Instead Sinclair set on foot a series of county reports for the whole of Britain, the General Views series. These surveys were conducted and published in two groups, between 1794 and 1798, and between 1805 and 1814' (Oxford DNB). The present series comprises 15 of the reports produced on Scotland for the General Views series. All take the same format a generously margined quarto with space for annotations but the work was spread across not only numerous contributors, but also numerous printers. Sinclair's own account of the Northern counties and the Islands is by some measure the most substantial publication in the series, at over 300 pages others are as short as pp. 22.Provenance: though without marks of ownership, this set comes from the library of Sir Thomas Miller (1731-1816), MP for Lewes in the 1770s and then long out of Parliament but nevertheless the head of the independent Whigs in Hampshire county politics.Contents:BEATSON, Robert. General View of the Agriculture of the County of Fife … Edinburgh: Printed by Alex Chapman and Company. 1794.pp. [6], 37, [1], with half-title and folding engraved map; lower outer margin first two leaves gnawed.BUCHAN-HEPBURN, George. General View of the Agriculture and rural Economy of Eatr Lothian … Edinburgh: Printed by John Moir. 1794.pp. [6], 157, [1], ff, [1], 161-164 [folding tables].DONALDSON, James. General View of the Agriculture of the Carse of Gowrie … London: Printed by C. Macrae. 1794.pp. 37, [3], with half-title, terminal blank, and folding table. Second issue, adding a 'List of proprietors who would be proper correspondents' on p. 37.DONALDSON, James. General View of the Agriculture of the County of Elgin or Moray … London: Printed by C. Clarke. 1794.pp. 43, with half-title.DONALDSON, James. General View of the Agriculture of the County of Nairn, the eastern Coast of Inverness-shire, and the Parish of Dyke, and Part of Edenkeillie, in the County of Elgin, and Forres … London: Printed by B.Millan … 1794.pp. 32.JOHNSTON, Bryce. General View of the Agriculture of the County of Dumfries … London: Printed by T. Wright. 1794.pp. [4], 114, xliv [appendix], with half-title.LOWE, Alexander. General View of the Agriculture of the County of Berwick … London: Printed by B. Millan … 1794.pp. 136, [2, blank], with half-title, hand-coloured engraved map, two plates, and folding table.JOHNSTON, Thomas. General View of the Agriculture of the County of Selkirk … London: Printed by W. Bulmer and Co. 1794. Seller Inventory # G2225

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Title: A collection of fifteen county reports on ...

Publisher: Edinburgh and London, 1794-5. 18??