Achille Richard - Nouveaux élémens de botanique et de physiologie végétale - 1825

LANDMARK OF NINETEENTH-CENTURY BOTANICAL SCIENCE

Achille Richard’s Nouveaux élémens de botanique et de physiologie végétale, published in Paris by Béchet Jeune in 1825, represents an important nineteenth-century synthesis of botanical structure, physiology and classification.

This copy is the third edition, revised, corrected and enlarged, published at a formative moment in the development of modern botanical science. Bibliographical records confirm the 1825 third edition and its publication by Béchet Jeune.

Richard’s work examines the organization and functions of plants, bringing together botanical morphology, plant physiology and systems of classification. The volume also contains material relating to the natural classification of plants, including the influential system associated with Antoine-Laurent de Jussieu, as well as a Calendrier de Flore based on flowering periods around Paris and associated with the botanical work of Lamarck.

THE BOTANICAL PLATES

A particularly attractive feature of the present copy is its sequence of eight engraved botanical plates, printed separately from the text and depicting the principal modifications and structures of plant organs.

The plates illustrate subjects including:

* roots and bulbs;
* simple and compound leaves;
* flowers;
* reproductive organs;
* fruits and seeds;
* plant anatomy and morphology.

Contemporary colouring gives the plates an especially attractive visual character, combining scientific observation with the decorative qualities of nineteenth-century botanical illustration.

The bibliographical record for the 1825 edition confirms eight engraved plates, and an auction catalogue describing the same edition likewise records eight hors-texte intaglio plates.

DISTINGUISHED PROVENANCE — THE COUNT DE KERCHOVE DE DENTERGHEM

The present copy bears a printed armorial bookplate of the Count de Kerchove de Denterghem, displaying the family arms and the motto:

“ENDURER POUR DURER”

This is a particularly evocative provenance for a botanical work.

The Kerchove de Denterghem family was closely associated with botany and horticulture in Belgium. Most notably, Oswald de Kerchove de Denterghem (1844–1906) was a passionate horticulturalist and specialist in palms and orchids. He became a member and later president of the Royal Botanical Society of Belgium and was president of the Royal Society of Agriculture and Botany of Ghent from 1886 until his death. Contemporary accounts describe him as a passionate plant enthusiast and specialist in orchids and palms.

This provenance therefore creates a particularly compelling association between the subject of the book and the intellectual and collecting interests of the family that preserved it.

WHY COLLECT

• Third edition of 1825, revised, corrected and enlarged.
• An important nineteenth-century treatise on botany and plant physiology.
• Eight engraved botanical plates, with contemporary colouring.
• Includes material relating to Jussieu’s natural classification and Lamarck’s botanical observations.
• Particularly attractive combination of scientific content and botanical illustration.
• Distinguished aristocratic provenance, with the armorial bookplate of the Count de Kerchove de Denterghem.
• Exceptional thematic provenance for a botanical book, given the family’s strong association with botany and horticulture.
• An appealing addition to collections devoted to botanical history, natural sciences, scientific illustration and historic libraries.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION — A PERIOD COLLECTOR’S COPY

One volume in octavo (8vo), Paris, Béchet Jeune, 1825.

XXIV, 519 pages, with 8 engraved botanical plates, the present copy retaining its period decorative binding and armorial provenance.

The contemporary binding, marbled paper covers and decorated spine give the volume the appearance of a genuine nineteenth-century scientific library book, rather than a modern rebinding.

The copy is particularly attractive when opened, with the botanical plates providing a succession of finely detailed studies of plant morphology and structure.

PROVENANCE

Count de Kerchove de Denterghem
Printed armorial ex-libris, with the family arms and motto “Endurer pour durer”.

A distinguished Belgian aristocratic provenance, particularly appropriate for a work devoted to botany and plant physiology.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION

RICHARD, Achille. Nouveaux élémens de botanique et de physiologie végétale. Paris: Béchet Jeune, 1825.
Third edition, revised, corrected and enlarged.
8vo. XXIV, 519 pp. + 8 engraved botanical plates.