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Buc'hoz, Pierre Joseph
Estimate
50,000 - 70,000 USD
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Description
- Collection précieuse et enluminée des fleurs les plus belles et les plus curieuses qui se cultiventant dans les jardins de la Chine que dans ceux de l'Europe. Paris: chez Lacombe et chez l'Auteur, [1776]
- paper, ink, leather
Engraved calligraphic title-pages (that of the first volume printed in red, that of the second, in blue) by Mlle. Niquet, engraved "Liste des fleurs" at end of second volume. Illustration: 200 fine handcolored etched plates (numbered 1–100, 1–100) within yellow wash borders, 79 plates in the first series with captions in Chinese.
2 volumes, folio (17 1/8 x 10 3/4 in.; 435 x 273 mm). Binding: Contemporary French red morocco gilt in eight compartments with floral tool, covers with gilt French fillet border, gilt dentelles, blue paste-paper endpapers, gilt edges, contemporary bookseller's ticket (Bassompierre, Geneva) on front pastedown. Provenance: Hug. de Bassville (eighteenth-century engraved bookplate) — Ladislaus von Hoffmann (Christie's New York, 4 June 1997, "An Important Botanical Library, The Property of a Gentleman," lot 123) — Michael J. Kuse (Sotheby's New York, 20 June 2003, lot 3).
Occasional very minor marginal spotting or soiling. Extremities of binding lightly worn with minor restoration, short cracks to bottom of rear joint of vol. 1 and top of front joint of vol. 2, a few minuscule wormholes to joints.
2 volumes, folio (17 1/8 x 10 3/4 in.; 435 x 273 mm). Binding: Contemporary French red morocco gilt in eight compartments with floral tool, covers with gilt French fillet border, gilt dentelles, blue paste-paper endpapers, gilt edges, contemporary bookseller's ticket (Bassompierre, Geneva) on front pastedown. Provenance: Hug. de Bassville (eighteenth-century engraved bookplate) — Ladislaus von Hoffmann (Christie's New York, 4 June 1997, "An Important Botanical Library, The Property of a Gentleman," lot 123) — Michael J. Kuse (Sotheby's New York, 20 June 2003, lot 3).
Occasional very minor marginal spotting or soiling. Extremities of binding lightly worn with minor restoration, short cracks to bottom of rear joint of vol. 1 and top of front joint of vol. 2, a few minuscule wormholes to joints.
Literature
Cleveland Collections 528; Dunthorne 60; Nissen 282; Pritzel 1326
Condition
Occasional very minor marginal spotting or soiling. Extremities of binding lightly worn with minor restoration, short cracks to bottom of rear joint of vol. 1 and top of front joint of vol. 2, a few miniscule wormholes to joints.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
Catalogue Note
A fine copy of the first edition of a beautiful and distinctive work. Buc'hoz (1731–1807) was a physician, artist, and naturalist from Lorraine. Many of his highly decorative plates in the first volume are etched after Chinese drawings of native plants and flowers, with pale blue skies and rocky backrounds, and, frequently, with idiosyncratic birds, butterflies, insects, or animals introduced to the compositions. Buc'hoz was the first European to copy the Chinese style in this way. This Chinese influence is also evident in the second volume, which depicts plants from European gardens—although species originally from Africa and the Americas are included as well.
Scarce: This is evidently the only complete copy to appear at auction since 1988; it is not cited in Hunt, Stafleu & Cowan, or Great Flower Books, and neither Robert de Belder nor Arpad Plesch had a copy in his library.