Renaissance of the Earth

Walter Blith, The English Improver Improved (1653)
This manual, like other land management manuals, guides the reader’s practical engagements with the land by drawing on Blith’s own experience as farmer and surveyor. Exploring how a farmer might harness natural energies, he includes an impressive fold-out engraving of a windmill.
Held in the Kinney Center’s Rare Book collection.

Richard Bradley, New Improvements of Planting and Gardening (1731)
Bradley viewed blights as manifestations of environmental imbalance—often spread through “corrupted air” or excess moisture. He treated blight as both a natural and moral warning, urging careful management of air, soil, and season to preserve crop health. For Bradley, understanding blights meant reading the invisible influences of the atmosphere.
Held in the Kinney Center’s rare book collection.

Ovid, Metamorphosis (1586)
In Book 8 of Metamorphosis, Daedalus crafts wings of feathers and wax so he and his son, Icarus, can escape Crete. He teaches Icarus to fly through the middle air: not too low, where the sea’s dampness would weigh him down, nor too high, where the sun’s heat would melt the wax. Air, in this tale, becomes the realm of human aspiration and Icarus’ fall shows that the air, though liberating, is also perilous when pride overtakes wisdom.
Held in the Kinney Center’s rare book collection.

John Worlidge, Systema Agriculturæ (1676)
As an agriculturalist, Worlidge treats wind as both a practical concern for farmers and a messenger of atmospheric change—its direction, strength, and quality foretelling rain, storms, or fair skies. In this text, wind is not just a natural force but a readable language that allowed farmers to prepare for upcoming weather events.
Held in the Kinney Center’s rare book collection.

Robert Boyle, Paradoxica Hydrostatica (1677)
Using his air pump, shown here, Boyle demonstrated that air exerts pressure and that this pressure is essential for respiration, combustion, and the behavior of fluids. His discovery—later formalized as Boyle’s Law—transformed air from a mysterious element into a measurable physical force, marking a turning point in the scientific understanding of the atmosphere.
Held in the Kinney Center’s rare book collection.