4to. Eighteenth-century full calf; engraved title-page, [10], 84pp., and 13 engraved plates; occasional light toning, a few old ink spots, otherwise a bright copy.

Philip cites Sotheran’s entry in Bibliotheca Chemica-Mathematica, ‘Gives a full account of how to make fireworks, with a description of all necessary tools.’ John Eliot Hodgkin considered it to be a ‘useful and practical little work containing the most explicit instructions for the manufacture of a great variety of pieces. The composition of a variety of powders for various effects is given in great detail, and, all the dimensions of every portion of the various pieces being furnished, nothing is left to the invention or caprice of the amateur or manufacturer. Firework making has become an exact science. The illustrations give as lively a presentiment of rocket-making in the middle of the eighteenth century as that of Van Etten in the beginning of the seventeenth ...'
Provenance: Lars Hoffman Barfod (b. 1943 -) the Master of Fireworks at the Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen between 1974 and 2004.

Philip. S260.2

John Eliot Hodgkin. Rariora: Being Notes of some of the Printed Books, Manuscripts, Historical Documents, Medals, Engraving, Pottery etc. etc. London, Sampson Low, Marston & Co., [1902].

Stock number: 1289