A precious copy bearing the arms of Napoleon I The only known copy of a gastronomic work bound with the imperial coat of arms, given to the dignitary most concerned by this innovative work. APPERT (Nicolas). L'Art de conserver, pendant plusieurs années, toutes les substances animales et végétales. Paris, Patris & Cie, 1810. In-8, xxxii-116 pp. in speckled fawn calf, smooth spine partitioned with repeated gilt initial "N", fine gilt threaded vegetal frieze framing the covers with gilt coat of arms in the centre, gilt roulette on the spine and back, speckled edges; title missing, discreet restorations to the spines, headpieces and corners, some marginal spotting (contemporary binding). First edition, copy signed by the author. Copper-engraved folding plate hors texte. A copy bound with the arms of Napoleon I (OHR, pl. n° 2652, irons n° 11 in one of the small variant formats, and iron n° 15). It conforms to the tastes of the emperor who liked solid bindings in soberly decorated calf (cf. Charles-Éloi Vial, Napoléon et les bibliothèques, Paris, Perrin, 2021, p. 204). IT WAS GIFTED TO the statesman, agronomist and writer Nicolas François de Neufchâteau (armorial bookplate on the first flyleaf). Nicolas-Louis François de Neufchâteau (1750-1828) showed a precocious genius for literature and oratory, obtaining a chair of rhetoric at a very young age, followed by a doctorate in law and a position in the judicial administration. In 1789, he was elected to the States General, became administrator of the Vosges department, and then sat on the Legislative and Convention benches. After the Terror, he was twice a diligent Minister of the Interior (1797, 1798-1799), joined the Directoire (1797-1798), and was sent as ambassador to Vienna in 1798. He rallied to the new regime after the coup d'état of Brumaire and was rewarded with a seat in the Senate (of which he soon became secretary and then president). It was he who harangued Napoleon at the Coronation and who was responsible for bringing the trophies of the victories of Austerlitz and Jena back to Paris. In 1803, he was admitted to the Institut, then made Grand Treasurer of the Legion of Honour and, in 1806, Count of the Empire. A man of the Enlightenment through his intellectual curiosity and concern for the public good, he studied agronomy in particular, which became his main area of interest from 1805 onwards (along with gastronomic concerns). He himself carried out practical agricultural experiments on his estate at Vicherey. He founded the Société d'agriculture in 1798 and served as its president several times until his death. A publication approved by scientists and subsidised by the Ministry of the Interior. In January 1809, Nicolas Appert sent samples to the Société d'encouragement pour l'industrie nationale, which commissioned a report submitted in March 1809 by a committee of three scientists: Denis-Placide Bouriat, professor at the École de Pharmacie, Antoine Parmentier, pharmacist, agronomist, nutritionist and hygienist, and Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau, chemist. In May 1809, he sought the help of the Minister of the Interior, Jean-Pierre Bachasson de Montalivet, whose responsibilities included agriculture, industry and trade, as well as supplying the capital's markets. He sought advice from the Société d'agriculture du département de la Seine, chaired by Nicolas François de Neufchâteau, which in June 1809 indicated that it found it "extremely useful" to publish a work on food preservation, and from the Bureau consultatif des Arts et Manufactures, which included Joseph Gay-Lussac, professor of chemistry at the École polytechnique, who declared himself in favour of the publication of Nicolas Appert's work. Montalivet asked Appert to choose between registering his patent and receiving financial compensation from the State, but in return for publication at his own expense and 200 copies sent to the Ministry. Appert generously chose the second solution out of concern for the welfare of his fellow creatures: in January 1810, he received 12,000 francs from the Ministry, and had 6,000 copies of his work printed in June 1810, of which 200 were delivered as agreed. The book that revolutionised eating habits, influenced gastronomy and gave rise to a new industry A GASTRONOMIC MANUAL COMBINED WITH A TECHNICAL VADE MECUM. A keen observer and skilful inventor, Nicolas Appert describes in detail the instruments and methods to be used to make preserves, but, coming from the world of hotels and gastronomy, he devotes many pages to specific recipes, dealing with meats (beef, mutton, poultry), eggs, dairy products (milk, whey, cream), vegetables (peas, broad beans, artichokes, cauliflower, tomatoes, etc.), whole or in pieces, fruit, vegetables (peas, peas, beans, artichokes, cauliflower, tomatoes, etc.).There are also indications for consommés, pot-au-feu, syrups and liqueurs. NICOLAS APPERT (1749-1841), CONFECTIONER, INVENTOR, INDUSTRIALIST AND PHILANTHROPIST. The son of Champagne innkeepers, he was the chef to the Duke of Deux-Ponts before opening a confectionery in Paris, which soon gained an excellent reputation and was praised by Grimod de La Reyniere. Nicolas Appert then took a broader interest in food preservation, and developed a heating system using a bain-marie in closed glass jars. He set up a workshop in Ivry in 1795, then in Massy in 1802, where he was able to bring together a vast vegetable garden and a factory: the business rapidly flourished, again earning praise from Grimod de La Reyniere, and had up to 50 employees, shipping its products both in France and abroad - as far afield as Russia. For him, it was not just a question of restoring the flavour of summer produce to the depths of winter, but also of helping to resolve the issue of supplies, particularly for the armies. The question of rations at sea and on land during the campaign period was a major concern for the general staff, and Napoleon Bonaparte had been worried about it from the time of his first Italian campaign - he would later say that "an army marches on its stomach". Appert first proposed his discovery to the Navy, which carried out conclusive tests, and obtained financial encouragement from the Government in 1810. Having refused to take out a patent to offer his discovery to humanity out of philanthropy, he did not make all the profit he could have and received nothing for the foreign translations of his book. His works were ransacked during the two occupations of 1814 and 1815, and he built up a business by adopting the lighter English tinplate system (which he had previously been unable to do because of the poor quality of French iron), but did not prosper much. After selling his business, he died destitute in 1841, at a time when the "appertisation" of his invention, predating the work of Alfred Vergnette de Lamotte and Pasteur, was rapidly developing the canning industry in Europe, mainly in England, and in the United States.