Printed for the author by T. Cadell, small folio (4to). With the list of subscribers, 3 folding engraved plates, errata page, decorative armorial bookplate pasted over ink library stamps on title verso, very occasional foxing, contemporary calf, rebacked and recornered, interior very clean with crisp pages. A rare early American beekeeping manual. Benjamin Franklin was a beekeeper and is listed as a subscriber in the 7 page subscriber’s list. Wildman worked under the assumption that a "language" among honey bees was possible and that recruitment to food sources was a "language" use phenomenon. He travelled to Strasbourg in 1785 with his `performing bees'. In an age when zoos were few and access to them restricted, travelling menageries and animal exhibits provided much of the public with what little broadening of their zoological horizons they could expect. The master himself would demonstrate other interesting uses for bees, such as for personal protection. Ever the showman, he is reported to have fended off the attack of three large dogs by casting swarms of bees at the animals as they rushed towards him. Important first edition of this work in complete and in excellent condition. e-mail for pictures.

Benjamin Franklin, Bee Keepers

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