£600
4to, pp. [xvi], 185, [1]. Contemporary speckled sheep, marbled endpapers. Some light spotting, a few marginal stains. Rebacked, hinges relined, corners worn, a few scrapes to boards. Booklabel of Thomas Seabrooke to front pastedown, old library label to verso of flyleaf, with an ownership inscription dated [18]61 below it.
A significant and scarce work on the production of silk in Valencia, by the vicar of Foyos, Francisco Ortells y Gombau. Following the reforms and inventions of Jacques de Vaucanson in France (including his anticipation of Jacquard with a punch-card automated loom), Spanish authorities attempted to revitalise the local silk industry by forcing adoption of his methods and machinery, including the grant of Vaucanson wheels to those who raised and spun enough silk. The Board of Commerce and Agriculture of Valencia went on to encourage local priests to promote the use of Vaucanson's method, with Ortells y Gombau's contribution proving so effective as to be published by the order of the Board. Ortells y Gombau is clear on the benefits of the new methods, accusing the local spinners of refusing the wheel because it prevented them from adulterating their silk with oil to increase its weight.
