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Premium DE BAECQUE et Associés - Lyon

119 - 2 - REDOUTE (P. J.) - VENTENAT (E. P.). GARDEN OF MALMAISON.
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Estimate €15,000 - €20,000
Sale commission
Description
REDOUTE (P. J.) - VENTENAT (E. P.). GARDEN OF MALMAISON. Paris, de l'imprimerie de Crapelet et se trouve chez l'auteur, An XI (1803). 2 large folio volumes (546 x 365 mm) with: a blank page - title - dedication page to Madame Bonaparte - alphabetical table - errata page - false title and 120 coloured plates outside the text, with serpents, opposite a descriptive and explanatory page, half blond calf, smooth spine decorated with cold fleurons separated by gilt lace (contemporary binding). FIRST EDITION OF REDOUTÉ'S ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE PLANTS IN THE MALMAISON GARDENS. Joséphine Bonaparte was particularly passionate about flowers and had assembled one of the finest collections of flora in the world in her gardens at Malmaison. Orders had been given to obtain plants that grew spontaneously in all parts of the world. This collection, by virtue of its beauty and the rarity of the species it contains, deserves to be cited as one of the most valuable in Europe. This book is the pinnacle of Redouté's artistic and botanical work. The one hundred and twenty magnificent full-page colour illustrations, harmoniously proportioned, are perfectly adapted to the page format and form a perfect balance. The task of cataloguing and publishing the collection was entrusted to the botanist and librarian of the Panthéon, Étienne Pierre Ventenat, while Redouté produced the drawings using his recently perfected colour stipple engraving technique, inspired by the work of Francesco Bartolozzi. The work appeared in twenty issues over a period of three years, with a print run of no more than 200 copies. "The artistic value of these works is obvious to anyone who has the privilege of leafing through them, but their scientific interest must also be emphasised: luxuriously treated from the point of view of engraving and publishing, they were also treated in a spirit of great rigour from the point of view of plant drawing and description. Redouté's watercolours are genuine botanical studies of exemplary precision and accuracy. The extraordinary ease with which this artist, who knew how to express his temperament despite his close submission to the model, was able to achieve first place among plant painters" (Christian Jouanin, "La passion de la nature ou Joséphine amateur et mécène des sciences de la nature", Catalogue of the exhibition "L'impératrice Joséphine et les sciences naturelles" (Malmaison, 29 May - 6 October 1997, Editions de la Réunion des musées nationaux, pp. 28-29). Nissen BBI 2049. A fine copy, the bindings are of good workmanship and the plates are intact, with no foxing or spotting apart from the serpents. 8 serpents are missing.
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About the sale ANCIENT BOOKS - MANUSCRITS - MODERN BOOKS - Chronological classification from the 14th to the 20th century
Auction location
Auction time 06/18/2026 at 2:00 PM
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