A Look Inside

The cover page, including all the relevant information as well as a quote from Virgil, which translates to “He was able to discern the reasons for success.”

The first page of Blount’s dedication to Henry Lord Capel, a Member of Parliament for Tewksbury; their relationship is unclear other than both being members.

The end of the very short dedication.  It has a satirical tone however, as Blount implies that his book contains such a “pepper-corn acknowledgement” only because all other books do.

Following the preface is the list of contents.  The first half includes mostly foods, which seem like a less random collection of topics than the title implies.

The second half of the contents.  As the topics move into metals then insects and animals, the subjects become more unrelated.  The work follows the typical encyclopedic nature of “natural histories” from the era.

A passage from Blount’s observations on volcanoes.  From the rhetoric, readers can assume someone like the author, who was not a scientist, relies on histories of his topics.  Here he references the eruptions of Vesuvius and Aetna and their historical records.  The phrase “extracted out of the best of modern writers” is recalled from the title page; like in most encyclopedias, the author has gained his information from outside sources.