LALANDE (Jérôme de). - Lot 75

LALANDE (Jérôme de). Des Canaux de navigation, et spécialement du canal de Languedoc. Paris, Veuve Desaint, 1778 In-folio, blue paper boards, untrimmed (period binding). First edition, with 14 copper-engraved plates, including 5 fold-outs. An important work on river navigation by the famous astronomer Jérôme de Lalande (1732-1807). The author gives details of the various canals in France, in particular the Canal du Midi, whose history he traces and provides information on its construction. There are also chapters on the canals of Europe, Russia, Turkey, Asia (China and Tonkin) and Africa, not forgetting America (America gave rise to the most beautiful & important canal idea ever conceived, that of cutting the Isthmus of Panama, & joining the North Sea with the Pacific). Untrimmed, wide-margined copy in waiting boards. Some light foxing.