François Pierre Chaumeton / Ernestine Panckoucke - Lot with 36 sheets "La Flore Médicale" - 1815

Lot of 36 sheets, 17 descriptive sheets, title and title page and 17 watercolored engravings by the painter Ernestine Panckoucke (wife of Charles Louis Fleury Panckoucke) taken from the Atlas "Flore médicale" published in 8 volumes between 1814 and 1820 by Chaumeton, François Pierre, (1775-1819). This imposing work was accompanied by hundreds of engravings representing the entire animal and plant world. The work derives from excellent work by eighteenth-century luminaries supported by the French King Louis XV and later guided by Turpin himself, considered at the time the greatest botanographic engraver. Most of the engravings are signed Turpin, Pretre and . Pure white and strong paper of excellent quality.

Publishing house: Charles Louis Fleury Panckoucke - 1815

Chamberet, Jean-Baptiste Joseph Tyrbas de, 1779-1870
Panckoucke, Ernestine, 1784-1860
Poiret, Jean-Louis-Marie, 1755-1834
Turpin, P. J. F. (Pierre Jean François), 1775-1840

Contemporary color engraving, excellent inking and copperplate printing on heavy paper. Prints accompanied by protective tissue, original language title on the same, and accompanying contemporaneous sheet in other languages. Good state of conservation, slight traces of foxing, browning and a few time marks as in the photo. Visible binding marks on the left margin as in the photo. SHIPMENT INSURED via BARTOLINI/DPD courier, rigid tube package; to insure, declare any damages at the time of pickup. Provenance: private collection.

François-Pierre Chaumeton (Chouzé-sur-Loire, September 20, 1775 – Paris, August 10, 1819) was a French pharmacist, botanist and physician. He studied medicine, humanism and languages (especially Greek) in Paris, later worked as a surgeon in military hospitals, but found it disagreeable, so he chose to work as a pharmacist at Val-de-Grâce. After the death of his wife he entered a phase of depression; to resolve this problem his friends advised him to leave Paris and travel to various countries, to forget what happened. After earning his Doctorate in Medicine in Strasbourg in 1805 (thesis “Essai d’entomologie médicale”), he moved to the Netherlands, where he remained for several years. Later he followed the armies into Prussia, Poland, Austria and the Illyrian provinces, and in the meantime learned the languages of the respective countries he visited; he also conducted extensive research in their libraries. When he retired, he settled in Paris, spending the last years of his life suffering from tuberculosis.

Ernestine Panckoucke, born Désormeaux, alias Anne-Ernestine Panckoucke (1784-1860), was a French botanical illustrator and floral painter. She described herself as a “translator of Goethe’s poems, a student of Redouté and author of Chaumeton’s ‘Flore Médicale,’ published by her husband Charles Louis Fleury Panckoucke (1780-1844). She illustrated this work with Pierre Jean François Turpin (1775-1840). It is thought she met Redouté at the Malmaison castle while studying under Prud’hon, or in Jean-Baptiste Isabey’s studio while posed for a portrait. She later regularly attended Redouté’s lessons at the Jardin des Plantes. Redouté had been commissioned by Empress Josephine to depict the roses and lilies of Malmaison. One of her works was sold at the Duke of Berry’s sale in 1834.

Jean Louis Marie Poiret (San Quintino, June 11, 1755 – Paris, April 7, 1834) was a French botanist and explorer.

Pierre Jean François Turpin (Vire, March 11, 1775 – Paris, May 1, 1840) was a French botanist and illustrator. He is considered one of the greatest floral and botanical illustrators of the Napoleonic era and beyond. As an artist, Turpin was largely self-taught.

In 1794 he was stationed in Haiti as a member of the French army. There he met botanist Pierre Antoine Poiteau (1766-1854), through whom Turpin learned botany, and in the meantime created numerous field botanical drawings that would become a basis for further studies when the two men returned to France. Regarding their work in Haiti, they were able to describe about 800 plant species. Turpin would have a working relationship with Poiteau throughout his career.

Through his collaboration with Poiteau and other naturalists, Turpin created some of the most beautiful watercolors and plant illustrations known. Below are some works that make use of Turpin’s illustrations:
- Flora Brasiliae Meridionalis by Augustin Saint-Hilaire in three volumes (1825-1832)
- Icones selectae plantarum by Jules Paul Benjamin Delessert (1773-1847).
- With Pierre Poiteau, produced an updated version of Traité des arbres fruitiers (Treatise on fruit trees) by Henri Louis Duhamel du Monceau (1700-1782).
- Plantes Equinoxales (1808) by Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) and Aimé Bonpland (1773-1858).
- Leçons de flore: Cours complet de botanique (1819-1820) by Jean Louis Marie Poiret (1755-1834).
- Flore médicale (1828-1832) by François-Pierre Chaumeton (1775-1819).

In 1833 he was elected a member of the Academy of Sciences. The plant genus Turpinia was named in his honor.

Wikipedia