Exposition des familles naturelles et de la germination […].

2 vol., 4to: [4]-8-lxiv-512, [4]-473-[1] pp., 117 pl. with orig. tissue guards (light spotting, foxing or soiling, angular water stains on 1st ff. in vol. 1, tears without loss on pl. I:64).

Contemp. polished calf, gilt-ruled frame on boards, gilt-orn. spines "à la grotesque" with thin double raised bands and red labels, gilt roll on edges, a.e.g. (some min. scratches, one headcap missing, some lacks on the others, joints starting to split, sl. bumped corners). Good large-margined copy, very good condition.

First edition, superbly ill. with 117 (75, 42) finely hand-coloured pl., engr. by Sellier, Plée, Lépine, Marchand, etc. after the author. First work by the famous French botanist Jaume Saint-Hilaire (1772-1845). It contains descriptions of 2.337 genuses and around 4.000 species, "les plus utiles et les plus intéressantes" (title).
Ref. Plesch 280. - Nissen 987. - Pritzel 4400. - Libr. of the Arnold Arboretum 370.
Prov. Jacques-Benoît Powis de Tenbossche (armorial bookpl.).