Description
Edinburgh: printed and sold by William Creech; and also sold by J. Donaldson, and A. Guthrie, Edinburgh; T. Cadell, J. Stockdale, J. Debrett, and J. Sewel, London; Dunlop and Wilson, Glasgow; Angus and Son; Aberdeen [imprints vary in subsequent volumes],, 1791-99. The most frequently quoted of all Scottish historical sources First editions, the complete set of this major survey of Scotland's geography, economy, and population, "the most frequently quoted of all Scottish historical sources" (ODNB); uncommon complete with all volumes, and in a uniform contemporary binding. "In 1790, as an elder in the general assembly of the Church of Scotland, he launched the idea of a survey of the state of the country, which was to become the twenty-one volumes of the Statistical Account of Scotland. It is a detailed account of the geography, history, economy, and society of every parish. He had gathered the word 'statistical' from Germany on his northern tour. He used it to mean information which was desirable for legislative purposes, though not necessarily numerical in form. 'Statistics', he said, 'should reveal the quantum of happiness in a population', as well as 'the means of further improvement'. He saw the proper function of government as intervention or legislative action to promote welfare and economic growth, and recognized that detailed information was necessary for such intervention to be effective. The important features of Sinclair's survey were its comprehensive range of topics and the fact that it was fully carried through. All 936 parishes were reported on in the following nine years, and the book as a whole is the most frequently quoted of all Scottish historical sources. There have been two subsequent 'statistical accounts' of Scotland, compiled in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; they follow the original one and are useful bodies of local information, but they lack the variety and buoyancy of tone of Sinclair's" (ODNB). With the stamp and shelfmarks to endpapers and title pages of the Lawes Agricultural Library, assembled in the early 20th century by Sir John Russell, director of the Rothamsted agricultural research institution in Hertfordshire, and ranking as one of the finest English collections of agricultural material prior to its dissemination. 21 volumes, octavo (208 x 124 mm). Contemporary quarter marbled calf, red and black labels, marbled sides, vellum tips, edges sprinkled blue; vol. IX recently rebound to same style. With 3 folding tables, 4 engraved folding plates, 9 engraved non-folding plates, 2 folding maps (one in colour), 3 non-folding maps. Lacking one engraved plate in vol. XVI, and one folding table in vol. XVIII. Vols. X, XV, XVI, and XVII bound without half-titles, XV bound without errata. Some wear to bindings, all holding firm, light rubbing, front free endpaper neatly reinserted in vol. I and XV, free endpapers in vol. II excised. A very good set. ESTC T132173; Goldsmiths' 14611; Kress B 2206.
