Edward Joseph Lowe / W. Howard - Les Plantes à Feuillage Coloré (Nouvelle Série) - 1872

Edward Joseph Lowe is the British botanist and naturalist who oversaw the original scientific work on which this fortunate French edition is based.

A magnificent work, ideal for both natural science book collectors and connoisseurs of the graphic arts of the nineteenth century.
Please examine carefully the description and the photographic gallery, which includes details of the title page and some of the splendid internal plates, an integral part of the description.

Format: Large quarto (approximately 28 x 19 cm).
Pages: VIII+122+62 off-text illustrated plates (missing off-text chromolithographic plate No. XI depicting Maranta roseo-picta). The volume is therefore sold as incomplete by one plate, described in full transparency.
Binding: Solid and elegant modern full-brown/purple cloth binding, with the original period spine applied that preserves the titles and gold-impressed ornaments.
Interior: The page block is very solid and well bound. The chromolithographs preserve colors that are extraordinarily fresh and vivid, with minimal physiological foxing or yellowing limited to the margins of the text due to time. It should be noted that 1 plate is missing (the off-text chromolithographic plate No. XI depicting Maranta roseo-picta) compared to the ideal collocation (lot sold as incomplete by one plate, described in full transparency).

Description:
Splendid large quarto volume (In-4°) entitled "Les Plantes à Feuillage Coloré - Histoire, description, culture, emploi des espèces les plus remarquables pour la décoration des parcs, jardins, serres, appartements". Original edition of the Nouvelle Série published in Paris in 1872 by the renowned publisher J. Rothschild, under scientific direction of J. Rothschild and introduced by Charles Naudin.
The work is famous in the history of nineteenth-century botanical illustration for the superb quality of its full-page chromolithographs, characterized by a range of saturated, vivid, and brilliant colors that faithfully reproduce the veins and shades of the exotic and ornamental leaves most sought after of the era (including splendid varieties of Calathea, Eranthemum, etc.).
Each color plate is protected by its original tissue and is accompanied by a detailed descriptive card with text in French and black-and-white engravings within the text.