Stockholm, Lars salvius, 1751.
8vo. In contemporary half calf with four raised bands and gilt lettering to spine. Ex-libris (Thore Virgin) pasted on to pasted down front end-paper and "Thore Virgin / Stockholm d. 7. dec. 1912." to upper outer corner of front free end-paper. Title-page with marginal browning, otherwise a fine copy. (10), XIV, 434, (34) pp. + 1 folded map and 6 plates.
First edition, second issue, here in an interesting interim state with “Gödselen” on p. 26 (indicating the second issue) but with p. 25 misspelled as “52” not called for in neither first nor second issue. “Linnaeus’ research work during his mature years began with trips to various Swedish provinces. By order of the parliament, which wanted an inventory of all the natural resources of the country, during three summers in the 1740’s Linnaeus traveled through selected areas to describe them and to search for dyestuffs, minerals, clay, and other economically useful substances. His reports of these expeditions were published as Ölandska och gothländska resa (1745), Västgöta resa (1747), and Skånska resa (1751), all written in Swedish. Nothing escaped his attention on his travels on horseback—plants and insects, runic stones and other ancient remnants, farmers working in the fields and meadows, the changes in the weather. His prose style was simple and strong, sometimes rising to lyrical outbursts or spiced with effective similes.” (DSB) Hulth P. 81.
"Baron C. Hårleman, who had borne the expenses of Linnaeus's expedition to Skåne, had the chance to see the proofs to at least the beginning of the SKÅNSKA RESA. There he read (on p. 26) with indignation that Linnaeus gave his blessing to the old Swedish custom of cleaning the ground by setting fire to the stubble ("svedjande" - a practice that he himself had condemned in print). Linnaeus decided to have a new version printed in which the offended passage would be replaced by some innocuos observation on manure ("Gödselen"). A fold was therefore printed as part of the final sheet of the book with an article on "Gödselen" instead of the article on "Svedjor". The binder was supposed to cancel the fold with the article on "Svedjor" and replace it with the inner fold from the final sheet. In very few copies this was not done." (Björck & Börjesson Cat. 512).
Soulsby 210
Order-nr.: 60339