Fourth edition of Samuel Wyld’s popular tract on land surveying.

In his preface Wyld defends the necessity of work’s publication, stating that he (the pigmy) is merely standing on the shoulders of giants, in order to see that little bit further. The work is split into seven chapters: the first two deal with surveying instruments, such as the plane table, the theodolite,and the circumferentor, with the first useful for gardens, the second for large tracts of enclosed land, and the last for parkland and large estates; the third chapter deals with the use of the compass in surveying;, and chapter five with the theodolite; then follows how to measure a field with just the chain and the cross staff; the sixth with the laying out and dividing of land; and the seventh with how to survey a county, and plot a town plan.

The work with its simplified and plain language was evidnetly a hit with the general public, and it would go through seven editions over the next 55 years.