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[BUFFON, INTENDANT OF THE KING’S GARDEN (Georges-Louis LECLE…
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63
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[BUFFON, INTENDANT OF THE KING’S GARDEN (Georges-Louis LECLE…
See original version (French)
Estimate €500 - €600
Voluntary lot
Description
[BUFFON, INTENDANT OF THE KING’S GARDEN (Georges-Louis LECLERC, Count of)] – General and Particular Natural History, with a Description of the King’s Collection. Paris, Royal Printing Office, 1749; quarto, IV-612, 603, 530, XVI-544, 312, 344, 379, 403, 376, 370, 451, 452, 443, 412, 207 pp. + concordance and alphabetical index of names for quadrupeds CCCXXV, full marbled blond calf bindings, spines decorated with 5 raised bands, edges painted red. All 41 volumes. This set is in very fine condition, with only one cap being very, very slightly damaged. Second edition by this publisher, comprising 9 volumes on minerals, 14 volumes on quadrupeds and 18 volumes on birds. Complete collection with contemporary coloured engravings. Georges-Louis Leclerc, Count of Buffon (1707–1788), began his career by translating Newton. In 1738, during a session at the Academy, he made an enemy of Henri-Louis Duhamel du Monceau. The king appointed him intendant of the King’s Garden (Jardin des Plantes) in 1739. Now firmly established, he devoted himself to natural history, surrounding himself with the finest scientists of his time. Contents: Part One: Theory of the Earth; Part Two: Animals. Louis Jean-Marie D’Aubenton, known as Daubenton, born on 29 May 1716 in Montbard and died on 31 December 1799 in Paris, was a French naturalist and physician, and the first director of the National Museum of Natural History. He contributed articles on anatomical description to the first fifteen volumes, which are masterpieces of precision and which, even in the 19th century, still formed one of the foundations of comparative anatomy. First edition of this text. The first fifteen volumes may be regarded as complete in themselves, as they comprise *The Theory of the Earth*, *The Natural History of Animals*, *The Nature of Man* and *Discourse on the Nature of Animals*. The publication of the *History of Natural Philosophy* ran from 1749 to 1789 for the 36 volumes written by Buffon, and continued until 1804 for the 8 volumes written by Lacépède. It is interesting to note that the two main authors of the *Histoire naturelle* were both born in Montbard. Our volume contains 2 frontispieces, 2 maps, 576 engravings and 19 chapter vignettes, as well as numerous end-piece illustrations. Most of these engravings were executed by Jacques de Sèves (Jacques de Sève (active 1742–1788) was an 18th-century French draughtsman, engraver and illustrator specialising in natural history). Between 1759 and 1762, he was one of the principal illustrators working on Buffon’s *Histoire naturelle générale et particulière*, notably for the section on quadrupeds, working from models or sketches provided by Jean-Baptiste Oudry, Buvée, or from sketches brought back by travellers. It is possible that he worked from life, visiting the menagerie at Versailles and attending dissection sessions. What is less well known is that De Sève produced no fewer than 2,000 drawings, executed in wash and brown ink. According to the archives of the Royal Printing House, which published Buffon’s works, he was paid 24 livres for each drawing. These drawings were engraved by, amongst others, Jean-Charles Baquoy, Heinrich Guttenberg and Louis Claude Le Grand – a total of around ten engravers. De Sève appears to have been attached to the King’s Cabinet, as Louis XV personally financed Buffon’s project from his own funds.
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