(Espalier Manuscript)    Cesar, Jules.   ESPALIERS ET CONTRE-ESPALIERS   Taille Et Différentes Formes Améliorées     &nbspN.P.,   1894.          "On peut faire beau tout en faisant très bien, à condition d'obéir à la nature plutôt que de trop la tourmenter." Such is the spirit which guides this remarkable illustrated manuscript on "La Taille," with its 40 hand-written chapters and 42 full page pencil drawings of various espalier types, many of them quite ornamental. This is not a student's manual, but, plainly, a work from an experienced practitioner. Cesar examines the various series of cordons, eventails, palmettes and candelabras, looking at the best application of the forms. Each chapter runs to about three pages (14 x 22 cm) written in small but disciplined and legible script. The neat and detailed drawings are identified by figure numbers referenced in the text. A half-title or alternate title has been tipped-in; "Taille Des Arbres Fruitiers/ Ancienne et Moderne, Raisonnée./ Espaliers, Contre-espaliers et Plein-vent." There is no evidence in OCLC or CCFr that the work was ever published, and we cannot recall having ever owned or seen a similar printed work from this period which covered the same subject with comparable detail and illustration.   Oblong 12 mo, 14 x 24 cm; (iv) with titles written in ink + 121 pp. numbered in ink + 42 full page pencil drawings titled or identified in ink.            Bound in half-cloth, imitation leather grain paper over boards; very good with occasional neat erasures and corrections. $700.00

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