Rare botany books: flora, herbaria, medicinal plants, horticulture, atlases and colored plates of natural history

First edition, printed in a small number of copies, of this offprint from the Annales de la Société belge de microscopie, vol. II, p. 55.

Spine split, unlettered, with title in manuscript; small losses and marginal nicks to the wrappers.

Illustrated at the end of the volume with 2 fine plates of foraminifera by E. Vanden Broeck, lithographed in two tones by G. Severeyns.

Not in the BnF. Unrecorded by Sabin, Leclerc, or Nissen.

At the head of the title-page, signed presentation inscription from Ernest Vanden Broeck: "A Monsieur Gustave Dollfus, hommage affectueux", together with several autograph corrections in the text.

Geologist...

First edition of this extremely rare botanical monograph, written by the great navigator following the scientific expedition sent to the Black Sea and the Greek islands aboard La Chevrette, during which he was entrusted with observations in natural history and archaeology (it was during this mission that the Venus de Milo was unearthed).

Cf. Pritzel, 2480.

Late 19th-century brown half cloth, smooth spine with library shelf label at foot and red morocco lettering-piece, marbled paper boards, corners slightly rubbed, speckled edges.

Bound in at the end are three short monographs, all in first edition and published in 1842, the year of d'Urville's death, dealing...

Very rare first edition, printed in a very small number of copies, of this offprint from volume XXIV of the Mémoires de la Société nationale des sciences naturelles et mathématiques de Cherbourg.

Spine split with some loss, foxing and losses to the wrappers; internally in pleasing condition.

Suffering from poor eyesight, Albert-Auguste Fauvel (1851-1909) was forced to abandon the naval career he had hoped to pursue and instead turned to travel and natural-history exploration.

A speaker of Manchu, he entered the Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs Service, where he served from 1872 to 1884. He studied the country’s fauna and flora as well as its economy. From...

First edition, printed in a small number of copies, of this offprint of an article from the Bulletins de la Société de Géographie d'Anvers.

Our copy is preserved in its original printed blue wrappers.

A few small marginal losses to the spine and wrappers; internally in very good condition.

This communication by the Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs concerns accounts of explorations carried out in New Guinea: by the Italian explorer Luigi Maria D'Albertis in 1877, and by the Anglican missionaries J. Chalmers and Charles Dudfield in 1878.

No publisher, no place, no date [1885–1890]. Quarto (32.5 × 23 cm), 1 blank leaf and 49 unnumbered leaves. Contemporary half red percaline over corners, smooth spine covered in red shagreen, pebble-grain paper-covered boards, blue paper endpapers.

An exceptional collection of 49 original unsigned watercolours, each measuring approximately 20 × 15 cm within the margins, finely executed in Indian ink and watercolour with gouache highlights, mounted on guards. Several leaves bear the watermark "Latune et Cie Blacons", that of a paper mill in the Drôme region active throughout the final third of the nineteenth century. Rubbing to the spine, a few marginal...

Complete first edition, in eleven bound volumes (ten text volumes and one atlas) of Auguste Pavie’s monumental work on former French Indochina, enriched with an autograph inscription signed by the author and accompanied by the large map of the Mission.

Published in Paris by Ernest Leroux, with the assistance of Augustin Challamel for the Atlas, between 1898 and 1919, the work appeared under the auspices of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, the Colonies, Public Instruction, and Fine Arts.

The set comprises the section Géographie et voyages, volumes I to VII, published between 1901 and 1919, illustrated with 52 maps and portraits hors texte...

First edition and the inaugural volumes of this significant scientific periodical, whose publication continued until 1954.

Volumes 43, 4, 5, and 6 are illustrated with respectively 332 in-text figures, 392 figures, 138 in-text figures, and 179 in-text figures.

Contemporary half-sheep bindings in brown, smooth spines decorated with gilt fillets and garlands, spines rubbed, red lettering and volume labels with a few minor losses on some volumes, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, sprinkled edges, some volumes slightly rubbed at the extremities, the upper corner of the fourth volume lacking, a few snags to the board edges; period bindings.

The first...

First edition of this paper on cassava and the cultivation of peanuts, read before the General Assembly of the Royal Aragonese Society on 22 August 1800.

Our copy is preserved in modern plain beige wrappers, with a few insignificant spots of foxing.

From the library of the comte de Lasteyrie du Saillant, the renowned agronomist, with his red printed stamp on the title-page.

First edition of this second fascicle, printed in Pondicherry by the Rattinamodeliar Press.

Losses to the cracked backstrip and along the board edges, with a few minor spots.

CCFr records copies only at the BnF (the sole institution to hold a complete run), the Collège de France, and Sainte-Geneviève.

The second of the five fascicles of this exceedingly rare botanical publication: they are devoted respectively to Lawsonia alba [or inermis = henna] and to Aristolochia Indica (Indian birthwort).

First edition of the inaugural instalment printed in Pondicherry at the Rattinamodeliar Press.

Losses to the spine and, more lightly, to the board corners; internally a clean and appealing copy.

Recorded in the CCF with copies only at the BnF (the sole institution holding a complete set), the Collège de France, and Sainte-Geneviève.

The first of five parts of this exceedingly scarce botanical publication, devoted entirely to Lawsonia alba [or inermis = henna].

Very rare first edition, illustrated in each volume with a copper-engraved frontispiece by Tardieu after Monnet.

Half black grained cloth bindings, smooth spines decorated with blind fillets, marbled paper boards with light rubbing, sprinkled edges, modest late 19th-century bindings.

Some foxing and a few pale waterstains at the end of the second volume.

This work is an essay whose concerns are strikingly close to our own, though expressed in a very different context.

A founder of French ecological thought, the civil engineer François-Antoine Rauch (1762–1837) demonstrated the direct relationship between deforestation and the increase in extreme weather, calling...

Fourth edition, partly original, revised and considerably enlarged from these lectures given at the Paris School of Pharmacy. The work is illustrated with 600 figures within the text. 

Slight losses or small corner tears to the spines and boards, minor scattered foxing.

A pleasant copy.

First edition of the first of Augustin Sageret’s (1763–1851) two memoirs on cucurbits. Sageret was a pioneer in plant hybridization, particularly through his experiments with melons.

Only two copies of this edition are recorded in the CCF (Muséum and Lyon). Extracted from the Mémoires de la Société royale et centrale d’agriculture, year 1825. Pritzel 7969. Oberlé, Fastes, 708.

Half green long-grain morocco binding, spine faded and slightly darkened, decorated with gilt and black double fillets and blind-stamped floral tools, gilt rolls at head and tail, gilt date at foot, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers, marbled edges, modern binding.

Some foxing...

First edition of this important work on cryptogams, illustrated with 36 hand-coloured plates (cf. Pritzel 3345).

Contemporary half calf with vellum corners, flat spine decorated with gilt floral rolls, partly rubbed, joints worn, lower cap trimmed with a small loss, black morocco title label, blue paper-covered boards.

Endpapers soiled, a few small spots of foxing.

Justin Girod-Chantrans, writer and naturalist [Besançon, 1750–1841], was one of the founders of the Société d’Agriculture du Doubs.

He was elected a member of the legislative body in 1802 (cf. Hoefer).

First edition illustrated with a copper-engraved plate (showing some dampstains) from the second part of this brief communication, which served as an invitation to the public meeting of the Imperial Society of Naturalists of Moscow.

According to the CCF, only the Natural History Museum holds all three parts, published respectively in 1809, 1810, and 1811.

Very rare copy preserved in its original stitched wrappers with the printed pink cover.

Covers slightly discoloured and foxed at the margins, two dampstains affecting the lower edge throughout. Manuscript notes at the head of the front wrapper identifying the author and title.

The Saxon naturalist Fischer von...

Head of collection of this important medical periodical, whose significance needs no further demonstration. It was published until 1914 (volume XLII) and included most of the essential contributions to the advancement of medical science in the 19th century.

The set is illustrated with 61 plates hors-texte, some lithographed and/or folding.

Half cherry calf bindings, smooth spines decorated with gilt fillets, romantic arabesques and blind-stamped fleurons, a few small rubs to some headcaps or joints, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, some corners slightly bumped, marbled edges, period bindings.

Beautiful set in a contemporary romantic binding...

Illustrated edition by Grandville, engraved by Geoffroy, comprising 29 hand-coloured plates hors-texte in the first volume, and in the second, 23 hand-coloured plates hors-texte along with 2 black botanical plates illustrating the physiology of plants, "Horticulture des dames" and "Culture des fleurs." For this edition, the plates were re-coloured by Maubert, with fresher and more vivid tones, considered superior to the first edition. Accompanied by 3 pages of sheet music for the romance Le myosotis. 
Contemporary half blue shagreen bindings. Spines with raised bands decorated with three gilt panels. Some scattered foxing, title-page of volume 2 with spotting. A few leaves slightly...

First edition, printed in a very small number of copies of this offprint from the Journal de l'agriculture et des pays chauds, 1865-1866; cf. Berger & Rey, p. 232. Not cited by Pritzel.

Bradel binding in full green boards, smooth spine, black shagreen lettering piece, modern binding.

Dr. Victor Pérez was a physician in Laguna (Tenerife) and Dr. Sagot (1821-1888) was a former surgeon in the Imperial Navy.

Pleasant and rare copy.

First edition of the French translation of this celebrated travel account.

Our copy is complete with the accompanying atlas volume, which includes 19 plates and maps.

The three text volumes are bound in bottle-green half shagreen, smooth spines with gilt fillets and broad black rules, gilt ornamental rolls at head and foot of spines, minor rubbing to the spine of the first volume, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers, original wrappers preserved, edges untrimmed.

The atlas volume, also preserving its original wrappers, is bound in a modern pastiche binding in the style of the text volumes.

Some foxing; joints of the first volume are split at head and tail of...

Very rare first edition of the French translation, partially unpublished, enriched with historical, geographical, and botanical notes, as well as a notice on ancient and modern Cyrenaica, the Kingdom of Fezzan, Timbuktu, the oasis of Siwah (the ancient Ammon Oasis and the Temple of Jupiter), the desert wind, the sacred ibis, the lotus, Egyptian papyrus, and the silphium so highly prized by the Ancients.

Illustrated with 8 plates and 1 folding map out of text.

Not recorded by Gay. Bourquelot V, 657 mentions only 7 plates and 1 map.

Contemporary-style binding in black half calf, flat spine decorated with double blind fillets, marbled paper boards, red edges. Modern binding...

First edition, illustrated with a frontispiece, 6 folding maps, 24 plates out of text, and 95 in-text reproductions.

Bradel binding in full blue cloth, cherry shagreen title label, original wrappers and spine preserved.

The botanist and biologist Auguste Chevalier (1873–1956) undertook numerous expeditions to Africa, Asia, and South America after earning his doctorate in 1901.

A handsome copy.

Inscribed and signed by Auguste-Jean-Baptiste Chevalier to Madame P. Lemoine at the head of the title page.

First edition of the French translation, revised under the author's supervision, by Joseph Lavallée, of this highly regarded travel account.

The atlas includes 16 plates depicting views and natural history subjects, 12 pages of engraved music, and 1 folding map (cf. Monglond VI 729–730).

Contemporary bindings in half blond calf over green vellum-tipped boards, smooth spines decorated with gilt tooling, yellow edges, for the three text volumes.

Contemporary binding for the atlas in half green sheep with vellum tips, smooth spine decorated with triple gilt fillets, soft green paper-covered boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns.

Wormholes on title pages, scuffed...

First edition of the French translation, illustrated with two folding plates hors texte.

This is an abridged translation (unusually, this is stated) of the major work Reise durch Sibirien, published in Göttingen in 1751–1752 in four quarto volumes richly illustrated. It recounts a major scientific expedition to Siberia that took place from July 1733 to February 1743. Johann Georg Gmelin (1709–1755) held the chair of chemistry and natural history at the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences.

Despite the erratic pagination of the second volume, the set is complete.

Contemporary full marbled tan calf, flat spines decorated with gilt compartments, red morocco title...

Rare first edition of this essential supplement to the Flore forestière (1881–1897) by Jean-Baptiste-Louis Pierre (1833–1905), director of the Saigon Botanical Garden.

OCLC locates copies only at the BnF and the Natural History Museum.

Publisher's binding in brown cloth-backed boards, plain flat spine, paper-covered boards slightly sunned and soiled, title printed on upper board, bumped corners, minor wear to edges.

Text in two columns.

Clean and fresh interior.

First edition, exceptionally rare, of this magnificent album of views of Guadeloupe, illustrated with twelve lithographs executed by Émile Vernier after drawings by Armand Budan: an engraved title-frontispiece and eleven plates, including a large folding panoramic view of Pointe-à-Pitre.

Large folio (39.6 × 54 cm). Collation: 3 unnumbered leaves comprising the title, preface and half-title Karukera, pp. [3]-44, one blank leaf, the lithographic title-frontispiece and eleven lithographic plates.

First edition, illustrated with 5 lithographed plates outside the text, each featuring multiple figures (Not listed in Sabin).

Bound in modern half beige calf, smooth spine decorated with gilt and black fillets, black morocco title label, marbled paper boards, restored and preserved original printed wrappers bound in. Binding signed by the Laurenchet workshop.

Some occasional spotting.

All published: the renowned anthropologist had planned a work in two or perhaps three volumes gathering his observations made during travels in Alaska.

The plates depict fossils, bones of sea otters and American brockets, mollusks, and more. Contributions include studies and...

French edition translated from the English by Charles Athanase Walcknaer, illustrated with 8 folding maps inserted out of text: 5 in the first volume, 3 in the second (see Gay 2996).

Contemporary half purple sheep bindings, flat spines faded and decorated with gilt garlands, joints with some repairs, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers, printed stamps to endpapers, occasional light foxing.

First edition of the French translation by Antoine Gilbert Griffet de La Baume of the first two volumes of "Asiatick researches, or, Transactions of the Society instituted in Bengal for enquiring into the history and antiquities, the arts, sciences and literature of Asia, Calcutta, 1788–1790" (cf. Chadenat 4934).

The first volume, Meteorological Journal kept by Colonel T. D. Pearse from 1785 to 1786, is illustrated with 33 full-page plates; the second, Meteorological Journal kept in Calcutta by Henry Trail from 1785 to 1786, with 11 plates and 2 tables, including one large folding plate.

Modern bindings in black half morocco, flat spines ruled with...

First edition of the French translation, illustrated with a portrait of the author and 29 engraved plates depicting objects, ornaments, coins, plants, and animals (cf. Cordier, Bibl. Japonica, 447. Gay, 3151. Brunet, V, 850).

Contemporary full marbled calf bindings, flat spines richly decorated with gilt typographic tools, gilt roll tooling at head and tail, brown morocco title-pieces, dark green morocco volume labels, gilt roll-tooled borders on boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt fillets on board edges, yellow edges.

A Swedish botanist and naturalist, Carl Peter Thunberg (1743–1828) studied medicine and natural history at Uppsala and became one of Linnaeus’s most...

First edition, published by order of the Imperial Government of Brazil and illustrated with a folding color map at the end of the volume (cf. Garraux 169. Borba de Moraes I, 478).

Some light foxing, minor rubbing to the spine, a pleasing and scarce copy.

Contemporary binding in red half morocco-grained shagreen, smooth spine ruled in gilt with quadruple fillets, gilt coat of arms at foot of spine, small losses to head and tailcaps, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, period binding.

Emmanuel Liais, then Director of the Imperial Observatory of Rio de Janeiro, had been entrusted by Emperor Pedro II with various expeditions throughout the Brazilian...

Rare first edition of this curious travel account, originally written entirely in verse (7,500 lines), though the author—on the advice of friends—agreed to intersperse it with prose narrative (retaining 2,500 lines of verse); see Sabin 20128, Gagnon 1134 (1710 edition), and Dionne II.

Contemporary full brown calf binding, spine with five raised bands, gilt compartments decorated with gilt floral tools, cherry red morocco label, gilt roll tooling at head and foot, double black fillet border on covers, gilt fillets on board edges, sprinkled yellow edges with red mottling.

Lower right corner of upper cover restored; some spots and minor scuffs to the boards; occasional light...

Rare first edition of this "relation (...) much sought after for its accuracy", illustrated with 19 folding plates, including 2 maps (cf. Sabin 3604, Leclerc 119).

Full marbled tan calf binding, spine with five raised bands, gilt compartments decorated with gilt floral motifs, small chip at foot of spine, scuffing to covers, red edges, bumped corners, gilt fillets along the board edges, contemporary binding.

The author, a physician and botanist born in Perpignan in 1690—where he held a post at the military hospital—was introduced by Antoine de Jussieu to the Conseil de la Marine in August 1721 and appointed royal physician and botanist in French Guiana. He landed in...

First edition of this collection of observations and reports on French Algeria, whose pacification had just been completed (cf. Quérard VI 70, Playfair 1264. See also Gay 953 and Tailliart 812).

Contemporary bindings in half bottle-green sheep, flat spines decorated with gilt fillets and triple gilt panels, a gilt fillet framing a large plaque decorated with blind-stamped motifs on the percaline-covered boards, school stamp [Pensionnat de M. Ballé], marbled endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges, gilt fillets at head- and tailcaps, period bindings.

Some restorations to spine ends and joints; school prize labels affixed opposite the half-titles.

The work is sometimes...

Second edition.

Bound in full roan, spine with five raised bands framed in gilt and decorated in gilt, edges framed in gilt partially faded in places, all edges speckled.
Lower corners bumped, worming visible on the first seven leaves.

A rare edition of this work, which include Dialogue de l'amour et de l'amitié, Critique de l'Opéra, La Peinture, Le Miroir ou la métamorphose d'Orante, La Chambre de justice de l'amour, une Critique de l'opéra Alceste.
Also featured is Charles Perrault's description of the now-lost Labyrinth of Versailles, a creation by the great Le Nôtre.

This remarkable labyrinth boasted thirty-nine fountains, each illustrating one...

First edition of the French translation, illustrated with an engraved frontispiece and a folding plate.

Bradel binding in half red morocco-grained shagreen with small corners, smooth spine richly decorated in the grotesque style, orange paper-covered boards with a few small areas of paper loss and some staining, yellow edges.

A few minor spots of foxing.

After witnessing the plight of enslaved Black people in the West Indies, the Danish botanist Paul Erdmann Isert returned from his travels as a fervent abolitionist. His writings prompted Prince Frederick of Denmark to abolish the triangular trade throughout his dominions in 1803.

Third edition, revised and augmented by the author, published during his lifetime. The copy is complete with the title-frontispiece depicting a "portico of Tuscan architectural order" according to the description of the 1805 edition, whose terrace shows a man ploughing the fields, indicating the content of the book. It is likewise complete with the folding plate and the eight elaborate vignettes. The first edition of this major text was issued from the press only five years earlier, in 1600.

First edition of the extract from the fourth part, devoted to geology and palaeontology, of Pierre de Tchihatcheff’s work entitled: Asia Minor. A Physical, Statistical and Archaeological Description of the Region.

Contemporary full beige paper-covered boards, smooth spine lettered in black with the author's name, title and author's name neatly inscribed in ink on the upper board, bumped corners.

Our copy brings together the five palaeontological papers by the naturalist Paul-Henri Fischer (1835-1893): Middle Tertiary Fauna. - Lacustrine Tertiary Fauna. - Upper Marine Tertiary Fauna (Steppe Limestone). - Quaternary Formation (Raised Beaches). - Microscopic Organisms...

First edition, complete with the two posthumous volumes issued in 1800 and written by Chaptal, Parmentier, Biot, and others. It is illustrated with 248 plates, several of them folding, a frontispiece in volume 10, and a map of France in volume 1; together with several folding tables. Text printed in double columns.

Contemporary full brown calf. Spines with raised bands, decorated with two grotesque compartments and two urn tools. Black calf lettering and volume labels. Losses to the headcaps of volumes 9 and 10. In volume 1, the outer margin trimmed over approximately 10 cm. In volume 1, the headcap partly worn, and a brown dampstain in the upper margin of the final leaves. Two or...

First edition.

The association of the Lumière brothers’ name with the development of the cinematograph should not obscure the fact that Auguste Lumière (1862–1954) was first and foremost a biologist of distinction.

Having as early as 1895 left the new invention to his brother Louis, he established a laboratory of experimental physiology and pharmacodynamics in order to direct his discoveries toward experimental medicine.

This laboratory became the Lumière Laboratories in Lyon, which he personally directed until October 25th, 1940, when he transferred the presidency of the company to his son, while continuing his research until his death.

Fine copy. 

Very rare first edition, illustrated with two frontispieces, eighteen plates, and a folding map table bound at the end of the second volume.

Scattered foxing.

Half black shagreen bindings, smooth spines tooled in blind with fillets and small ornaments, gilt lettering at the foot of the spines showing some rubbing, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, light rubbing to the extremities, sprinkled edges, contemporary bindings.

Born at Versailles in 1809, Anne Jean-Baptiste Raffenel entered the Naval administration in 1825.

After several voyages, notably to Africa, the West Indies and the United States, he was posted to Senegal and from 1843...

Rare first edition (cf. Pritzel 7288).

Only three copies recorded in the CCF (BnF, Amiens and Montpellier).

Bound in a modern bradel binding of full blue paper-covered boards, smooth spine without lettering, printed paper title label pasted at the centre of the upper cover, a small dampstain at the foot of the spine.

The author, an apothecary in Montpellier, later qualified as a doctor of medicine.

First edition of the French translation of this account, originally published under the title: "An Account of the Island of Ceylon" in London in 1803 (cf. Boucher de La Richarderie, V, 135. Brunet, IV, 490 and Quérard, VII, 43 mention an edition published by Dentu, 1804).

Contemporary full mottled calf bindings, smooth spines decorated with gilt compartments and gilt tools, red morocco lettering pieces, green calf volume labels, gilt rolls at the head and tail partly worn, fragile joints, marbled paper endpapers and pastedowns, bookplates pasted to the pastedowns, gilt fillets on the board edges, speckled edges.

Bindings rubbed, small losses at the foot of the joints...

Extremely rare first edition, illustrated with two plates and issued as a separate offprint from the Phytographia Canariensis of the Histoire naturelle des Îles Canaries by Barker-Webb and Sabin Berthelot.

The plates, lithographed by J. Rigaud et Cie, were drawn by Alfred Riocreux, the gifted botanical artist and pupil of Redouté, responsible, among other works, for Choix de plantes de la Nouvelle-Zélande (1846).

Some foxing.

Contemporary binding in red half-morocco with corners, smooth spine ruled in gilt at head and foot, long-grained title, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns.

Not recorded by Nissen.

The Vicomte de...

Second edition, illustrated with a large folding plate bringing together five figures (referred to as “plates”).

Our copy is preserved in its original stitched wrappers, in the blank provisional waiting cover, with manuscript annotations in ink on the upper cover.

Two faint waterstains, one at the foot of the first page and the other at the head of the last.

The author, formerly florist-gardener on the Brunoy estates of Monsieur (Louis XVIII), was at the time a nurseryman at Mandres [les-Roses].

First edition, printed in a small number of copies, of this offprint from the Mémoires de la Société naturelle des sciences naturelles de Cherbourg, vol. XX (1876).

See O'Reilly, Tahiti, 2693. Only three copies recorded in the CCF (BnF, Aix-Marseille, Cherbourg).

Bradel binding in blue half cloth, smooth spine, long red marbled morocco title label, marbled paper sides, original wrappers preserved, modern signed binding by Boichot.

This pamphlet, which contains a large number of botanical entries on the Marquesas, Tahiti, the Sandwich Islands, New Zealand, etc., is a continuation of the study entitled Les Plantes alimentaires de l'Océanie (1875).

A...

First edition, illustrated with 46 wood-engraved figures in the text, including 2 full-page plates (cf. Lorentz, IX, 740; not in Nissen).

Contemporary half red shagreen binding, spine with five raised bands showing some rubbing and a small loss at the foot, marbled paper sides, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, corners rubbed.

Some scattered foxing; a light waterstain in the lower right margin of the final leaves, without affecting the text.

An interesting work awarded the Montyon Prize by the Académie française, addressing the appearance of instinct in the mineral and vegetal worlds; the journey of pollen; carnivorous plants; constructive, maternal, and migratory...

First separately issued edition, illustrated with a large folding map, issued as a plate outside the text (cf. Sabin 94850).

The work was first published in 1838 in the Notices statistiques sur les colonies françaises.

"La lecture des documents officiels réunis dans la Notice statistique laissera déjà dans tous les esprits cette conviction que la Guyane française offre de nombreux éléments de richesse et de prospérité, et que, pour les avoir laissés improductifs pendant deux siècles, la France ne peut avoir renoncé à les mettre un jour en valeur".

Some light foxing, otherwise a pleasing copy.

First edition of the illustrated French translation, with 2 plates outside the text, one of which folding.

Bindings in contemporary full mottled fawn calf, smooth spines richly gilt with panelled compartments, joints split and restored, some rubbing and small wormholes to the spines, marbled paper endleaves and pastedowns, gilt fillet to the board edges, marbled edges, two rather clumsy restorations to two corners; bindings of the period.

Pleasing internal condition.

This is an abridged translation (but, unusually, explicitly stated as such) of the major work Reise durch Sibirien, published in Göttingen in 1751–1752, comprising 4 quarto volumes and an abundant...

Second edition, partly original, as it was revised, corrected and enlarged with a handbook for the cultivation of mulberry trees, setting out the principles by which the fullest advantage may be drawn from this tree, together with the presentation of a new method of cultivation designed to prevent its mortality.

Light dampstaining to the upper outer margin of the first leaves, small losses to the head- and tail-cap of the spine, a few scattered spots.

The work was reissued in 1837 and 1848.

Charles Fraissinet (1798–1856) was a pastor of the Reformed Church at Sauve (Gard).

Although closely involved in the theological controversies of his day, he is best...

Very rare first edition, illustrated with an inserted copper-engraved plate by Plée after Turpin (cf. Pritzel 2823).

The CCFr records copies only at the Institut, Rouen, and Montpellier.

Our copy is preserved in its original sewn state with temporary pink paper covers.

Faujas de Saint-Fond (1741–1819) is of course best known as a geologist and vulcanologist, yet his work extended to every other branch of natural history.

Rare first edition, cf. Duvivier, I, 143.

Only 2 copies recorded in the CCF (BnF and Muséum).

Half-cloth binding in black, smooth and rebacked spine, marbled paper boards, worn corners, speckled edges.

Minor foxing, not affecting the text.

The author, Father Antoine Duss (Anton Düß, 1840–1924), was a Swiss-born Spiritan missionary naturalized as a French citizen. He carried out his ministry almost exclusively in Martinique, particularly in Fort-de-France. He studied these plants "with care, consulting both ancient and modern works and illustrations published on these cryptogams growing in the Antilles in general, including those by Plumier, Swartz, Sloane, de...

First edition (Pritzel, 2480.)

Our copy is issued in the original wrappers, preserved in a temporary mustard-coloured paper cover; the spine rubbed with losses to the mustard paper, and a library shelf label pasted to the verso of the upper cover.

A very rare botanical monograph written by the great navigator following the scientific expedition sent to the Black Sea and the Greek islands (aboard the vessel La Chevrette), during which he was responsible for observations in natural history and archaeology (it was in the course of this mission that the Venus de Milo was unearthed).

First edition (cf. Neu 838.)

Light foxing.

Contemporary full tan sheep, the spine with five raised bands ruled in gilt and decorated with gilt panels and gilt floral tools; some rubbing and small defects to the spine, gilt rolls to the head- and tailcaps, surface wear to the boards, red edges, gilt fillets to the board edges, corners a little softened; a period binding.

First separate edition, printed in a small number of copies, taken from the Annales des sciences naturelles; the work was later republished by Baillière in 1876 (cf. O'Reilly, Nouvelle-Calédonie, 608, which records only the periodical publication).

Bradel case-binding in full green paper-covered boards, brown morocco lettering-piece lettered vertically; the original provisional upper wrapper preserved; modern binding.

The issue is illustrated at the end of the volume with an engraved plate.

A clear waterstain in the outer margins of the leaves.

Émile Bescherelle (1828–1903), president of the Société botanique de France, was a leading specialist in...

First edition of the illustrated French translation, embellished in the second volume with a plate, a folding table, and a large folding map printed as a separate leaf (cf. Gay 2996).

Contemporary full mottled fawn calf, smooth spines gilt with fillets, garlands, and floral tools, red morocco title and volume labels, with the volume labels inlaid with green morocco, gilt rolls at the headcaps, minor rubbing to the spines, dentelle, single gilt fillet and gilt garland framing the boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, corners rubbed, gilt fillets to the board edges, lemon edges; bindings of the period.

In 1797, John Barrow (1764–1848) accompanied Lord Macartney, as his...

First edition, printed in a small number of copies, cf. Gay 204; Bourquelot I, 115.

Contemporary full mottled fawn sheep, smooth spine decorated with gilt fillets and fleurons, joints rubbed, red shagreen title-piece, gilt rolls to the headcaps partly faded, gilt dentelle border to the boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt fillets to the edges of the boards, partly browned, red edges.

Joints restored, circular losses filled in the blank areas of the title and half-title pages.

First edition of this major classification, arranged according to the Linnaean system, describing a thousand plants with remarkable precision (cf. Pritzel 9806.)

Full green vellum bindings, smooth spines tooled with double gilt fillets and gilt rolls, brown calf lettering- and volume-pieces, slight rubbing to the spines, yellow mottled edges, some corners a little softened; contemporary bindings.

The author, Abbé Fulgenzio Vitman (1728–1806), a Florentine botanist, founded the Milan botanical garden after directing that of Pavia.

Rare set of eight works by Baron Thénard, all in first edition, seven of which concern agronomy.

The son of the chemist Louis Thénard, the agronomist Paul Thénard (1819–1884) conducted extensive research on soil fertility, begun on the estate of his in-laws in Givry, where he first undertook soil analysis in order to understand the factors favourable to vine cultivation.

In 1847 his wife inherited an estate in Talmay (Côte-d’Or). While retaining Givry, he settled in Talmay to pursue his investigations into ways of improving soil fertility.

Contemporary half midnight-blue shagreen, spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt tools; slight rubbing to the spine...

Second edition, embellished with a copper-engraved map by Giraud l’aîné, folded, together with a copper-engraved plan of the labyrinth of Knossos by Chapuy.

This edition is not recorded by Contominas, Atabey or Blackmer (1493 for the first edition).

Contemporary half mottled sheep with parchment corners, smooth spine decorated with delicate black fillets, paper labels serving as title pieces, green paper boards with some rubbing, sprinkled edges.

Spine foot restored.

Three gatherings very lightly toned, otherwise a clean, fresh copy.

Bound at the end is the first edition of the French translation prepared by Jean-Claude Pingeron of Dominique Sestini’s work...

First edition, printed in a small run, of this offprint from the Mémoires présentés par divers savants à l’Académie des sciences, vol. XXII, no. 6.

This publication constitutes botanist Maxime Cornu’s (1843–1901) first work on phylloxera and stands among the earliest scientific studies in French devoted to the subject.

Our copy is preserved in its original plain blue waiting wrapper, showing two losses along the spine and some foxing to the panels.

Very scarce work illustrated with three plates.

First edition of Joseph Pitton de Tournefort’s (1656-1708) seminal work, illustrated with three repeated engraved frontispiece titles by Cornelis Vermeulen depicting the Jardin du Roi, 451 botanical plates drawn by Claude Aubriet - who would later accompany the author on his journey to the Levant - and 5 text vignettes. Dedicatory epistle to King Louis XIV.

Three volumes bound in contemporary polished marbled calf. Raised-band spines decorated with the cipher of Louis XIV in four compartments, embellished with fleurs-de-lis, stars and botanical ornaments; red morocco lettering and numbering pieces, likewise...

First edition of the Voyage pittoresque à l'Île-de-France, au Cap de Bonne-Espérance et à l'Île de Ténériffe, published in Paris by Auguste Nepveu in 1812 and printed by Le Normant. Two octavo text volumes with an accompanying atlas. The second text volume contains three folding tables; the atlas in the present copy comprises 45 engraved plates, both single-page and folding, including three maps and 42 plans and picturesque views, most retaining their tissue guards. 

Some foxing in the text volumes and atlas.

The text volumes in slightly later...

• Observations du thermomètre faites pendant les grands froids de Sibérie, par M. Delisle.
• Recherche de statique et de dynamique, par M. le Marquis de Courtivron.
• Expériences de l'electricité appliquées à des paralytiques, par Mrs Morand et...