Manuscript presentation of "Epiphyllum, cactées, Reine Marie-Henriette".

Folio, 38 x 26 cm: [6] pp., on Bristol paper, in French, pen and China ink; 1 full-page watercolour protected by silk paper.

Contemp. ivory silk, a.e.g. (soiling, silk used on spine and corners, spine part. split).

Original manuscript accompanying the presentation of a new variety of flower (epiphyllum also known as orchid cactus) dedicated to Queen Marie-Henriette and bearing her name, by an amateur horticulturist from Verviers. The plant is superbly represented by an original watercolour, preceded by a dedication leaf and a dedication epistle to the queen, dated Verviers, 18 July 1866. The text, perfectly calligraphed, and the watercolour are framed with a pen-and-ink fillet. The proposal to name this creation after the queen was apparently not accepted, as only the rose also known as "Gloire de Dijon rouge" actually bears the name "Reine Marie-Henriette" (cultivar obtained in 1875 by the Lyon rose grower Antoine Levet and commercialised under this name in 1878).
Ref. Taylor, Judith M. - Visions of Lovelines: Great flower breeders of the past. Athens (Ohio), 2014, pp. 160-161.
Prov. Marie-Henriette of Austria (1836-1902), Queen of the Belgians. - [Goffinet].