Buffon - Histoire Naturelle, Générale et Particulière [Quadrupèdes] - 1786

Beautiful set of 11 volumes of Buffon’s works illustrated with 110 plates bound separately from the text.

BUFFON, GEORGES-LOUIS LECLERC, COMTE DE.
Histoire Naturelle, Générale et Particulière [Quadrupèdes]. Deux-Ponts: chez Sanson & Compagnie, 1786.

A precious European edition of the monumental work by the Comte de Buffon, printed at Deux-Ponts by Sanson & Cie in 1786. This vast editorial undertaking allowed the diffusion across Europe of the Enlightenment through Buffon’s famous Histoire naturelle des quadrupèdes, which redefined the scientific, philosophical, and aesthetic approach to the animal kingdom in the eighteenth century.

Each volume offers anatomically and behaviourally precise descriptions, illustrated with copper engravings hors texte of great artistic finesse (such as the plates devoted to deer: Le Cerf, La Biche, Le Daim, Le Cerf de Corse).

11 volumes in-12. Volume I missing. Uniform set in contemporary full marbled calf bindings. The spines show a beautiful patina with their gilding and original title pieces. Usual wear and minor rubbing to the headcaps, corners and joints, but the set remains very solid and elegant. Clean interiors on rag paper, complete with the superb engraved plates.

When the volumes of his Histoire Naturelle appeared, they enjoyed a popularity comparable to that of the greatest suspense novels. The ladies of Louis XV’s court and intellectuals across Europe clamoured for them. It is told that King Frederick II of Prussia read Buffon’s chapters on wild animals with as much passion as his military strategy treaties!