L'Héritier de Brutelle, Charles Louis

Letterpress general title-page and part-titles to "Fasciculus I [–6]," plate list to each fascicle, with the "Conspectus" leaf (pp. 183/184). Illustration: 103 engraved plates (numbered I–VII, VIIß, VIII–XXX, XXXß, XXXI–LII, LII bis, LIII, LIII bis, LIV–LVI, LVI bis, LVII, LVII bis, LVIII–LIX, LIX bis, LX–LXXXIV, LXXXVI–XCVII): 2 handcolored, 99 color-printed and finished by hand, 2 uncolored and full-sheet, after Redouté, L. Freret, L. Fossier, L. Prévost, J. Sowerby, and others by Malewre, C. Milsan, J. Juillet, F. Hubert, and others.

Broadsheets (20 1/4 x 13 3/4 in.; 515 x 349 mm. Plates for fascicle 7: 19 x 13 5/8 in.; 482 x 346 mm). Binding: Retrospective binding incorporating eighteenth-century red morocco covers and spine, covers gilt-paneled, spine gilt in seven compartments with black morocco label, early red-sprinkled edges. Provenance: Massachusetts Horticultural Society (Christie's New York, 18 December 2001, lot 75).



Lightly cleaned, plate XXIV with repair to separation at platemark, plate LVII bis with very light surface abrasion, Plates LXXVII–LXXX with short repaired tear at lower margin, full-sheet plates lightly spotted and creased. Binding rubbed, with several scrapes to covers.

G. Buchheim, "A Bibliographical Account of L'Heritier's 'Stirpes novae'," in Huntia, vol. 2 (15 October 1965): 29–58; Cleveland Collections 555; Dunthorne 246; Great Flower Books, p. 64; Hunt 673; Hunt, Redoutéana 1; Nissen 1190; Pritzel 5268; Stafleu & Cowan TL2 4484

Lightly cleaned, plate XXIV with repair to separation at platemark, plate LVII bis with very light surface abrasion, Plates LXXVII–LXXX with short repaired tear at lower margin, full-sheet plates lightly spotted and creased. Binding rubbed, with several scrapes to covers.
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.

A fine and unusually complete first edition of L'Héirtier's first publication and the first book with engraved illustrations after Pierre Joseph Redouté, who "learned the finer points of scientific botanic illustration from L'Héritier" (Cleveland Collections). This is the very rare deluxe handcolored issue with plates produced under Redouté's supervision and colored in his studio with the collaboration of his brother Henri Joseph. The Allen copy has been supplemented with twelve handcolored plates intended for the never-issued seventh fascicle, which are almost never found outside of institutional copies.

The exact number of colored copies issued is not known. Stafleu and Cowan note that "Some copies have coloured plates," and Buchheim records six colored copies in institutional libraries. The Allen copy is the only complete handcolored copy sold at auction in the past twenty years. This copy includes plate XXXß, which is frequently lacking, as it is in the Longleat copy sold in 2002 and in four of the institutional copies cited by Buchheim. Moreover, the present example of this plate is colored by hand; it typically appears uncolored and the Allen copy may be unique in having the plate fully colored by a contemporary hand. Plate XIII also appears with full hand-coloring over the black-printed engraving, although this plate is known in a color-printed state with hand-finishing. The two full-sheet plates (numbers LXXXI and LXXXIV) are both uncolored, as usual. The remaining 87 plates of the original publication, as well as the twelve plates present from the unpublished seventh fascicle, are printed in color and finished by hand, with borders and captions printed in golden brown.

The text here includes the both the cancel and cancelland of pages 163/164, as well as the terminal "Conspectus" leaf, which is often lacking. The Allen copy is apparently without pages iii–iv, but that is just as well since Buchheim states that they were never published. Similarly, this copy is without the three part-titles that were not printed until after 1800 and should not be present in a copy bound from the six original fascicles, which were issued between March 1785 and September 1781; the Allen copy does include all six of the fascicle titles.

L’Héritier’s plans to complete his work, which was to have comprised ten fascicles with a total of 120 plates, were shattered by the French Revolution, which cost him his fortune, home, and celebrated gardens. A prospectus for the seventh fascicle was issued at the end of the sixth, but was never formally published. Some 39 additional plates were eventually prepared, with a few proof copies of each being printed in color and finished by hand. Buchheim records nine institutions that have copies of Stirpes novae with additional unpublished plates, noting that these extra plates are generally uncolored.

Despite never being completed, L'Heritier’s magnum opus is "one of the more delightful flower books of the eighteenth century …  splendid in its spacious descriptions, its charming exotic plates, its implications for taxonomic history; and fascinating as an imposing piece of eighteenth-century bookmaking, with its series of fascicles printed on broadsheets …" (Hunt).