P.J. Buc'hoz | Herbier ou collection des plantes médicinales de la Chine, Paris, 1781, contemporary red morocco gilt

Pierre-Joseph Buc'hoz

Herbier ou collection des plantes médicinales de la Chine. Paris: for the author, 1781

Folio (453 x 274mm.), 100 hand-coloured engraved plates after Chinese artists, a few plates numbered in manuscript, "Explication des Planches" leaf, contemporary red morocco gilt, spine with raised bands in eight compartments, lettering pieces in second and third compartments, gilt edges, marbled endpapers, 'Explication des Planches' text leaf with small tear at outer margin (not affecting text), occasional spotting, extremities slightly browned, extremities slightly bumped

The French physician, lawyer, and naturalist Pierre-Joseph Buc'hoz (1731-1807) published a prolific output of over 500 works, though copies of this work are rare at auction. Herbier ou collection des plantes médicinales de la Chine includes 300 plants which are now familiar, though many of them were unknown to eighteenth-century Europeans.

Blunt notes that the "early plates were actually painted in China", hence placing this work amongst a small number of books where "considerable use is made for the first time of drawings of Chinese plants executed by native artists" (Great Flower Books, p. 52). The work was issued without text, but this copy includes the "Explication des Planches" leaf.

LITERATURE:

Dunthorne 63; Great Flower Books, p. 52; Nissen BBI 284; Pritzel 1329