Agriculture.- Chomel (Noel) Dictionnaire Oeconomique [&] Supplement au Dictionnaire Oeconomique, 4 vol. in 2, third edition, engraved dedication and 12 plates, 1 double-page, numerous engraved or woodcut illustrations in text, a few pasted, titles in red and black, light marginal water-staining to first and last few ff. of 1 vol., contemporary panelled calf, richly gilt spines with black morocco labels, [STCN 170843777 & 170843335; Vicaire 172], folio, Amsterdam, Jean Covens & Corn Mortier, 1732-40.

⁂ A handsome set of this important domestic dictionary on agriculture, covering gardening, botany, hunting, bee-keeping, medicine, breeding animals and more. This attractively illustrated work, first published in 1709 in Lyon, became very popular with many editions following, alongside translations in Dutch, German and English. This work was brought to Japan by the Dutch, and was translated into Japanese, "the encyclopaedia that proved so useful to the Japanese" (Blussé a.o. Bridging the divide 400 years The Netherlands - Japan, p.111).

Noël Chomel was a student of La Quintinie, the gardener of Louis XIV. He became médicin ordinaire du Roi et Professeur au Jardin royal.