Chaumeton/Turpin - La Flore Médicale - 1814

CHAUMETON (François-Pierre) - TURPIN (Pierre-Jean-François) & POIRET (Jean-Louis-Marie) - Medical Flora, described by F. P. Chaumeton, painted by Mme E. P...... [Ernestine Panckoucke], and by P. J. F. Turpin - Paris, C. L. F. Panckoucke, 1814-1820 (6 volumes bound into 3 large volumes of the time with an exceptional autograph document).
Bibliographical and physical description

6 volumes bound into 3 large octavo volumes (approx. 24 x 15 cm). Complete set of the 6 text volumes and plates gathered into 3 period volumes (Volumes 1-2, 3-4, 5-6). Contains the title page of the original edition at C. L. F. Panckoucke (1814, rue et hôtel Serpente no. 16), the preface and the entire medical and botanical notices.

A masterpiece of botanical iconography featuring more than 350 color-printed, engraved plates with hand color, drawn by Pierre-Jean-François Turpin and Ernestine Panckoucke. Original period half calf with corners, boards covered in marbled paper with a comb pattern. Spine smooth with gold tooling – Restoration period, with edges and double gilt titles ("FLORE MEDICALE" and the combined volumes "1-2", "3-4", "5-6"). Gilt-edged fore-edges.

An exceptional copy preserves an important autograph letter (A.L.S.) from the famous composer, folklorist, and librarian Jean-Baptiste WECKERLIN (1821–1910). Addressed to his friend the physician (“Dear Doctor”), this cosmopolitan correspondence directly references an invitation to dine organized at “rue et hôtel Serpente, no. 16” — i.e., the very publisher’s historic address printed at the bottom of the title page of the book! The document also includes botanical notes by the same period concerning plant morphology (“male leaf”, “female leaf”).

Period bindings are worn but sturdy and authentic, showing everyday wear, scuffs, and losses at the headcaps, corners, and joints. The interior is remarkably well preserved, with vivid, fresh plate colors.

Published between 1814 and 1820 under the direction of Dr. François-Pierre Chaumeton, the Flore médicale of Panckoucke is the most famous botanical and pharmacological compendium of the 19th century. It synthesizes centuries of knowledge on simples, linking classical medicine with everyday culinary and aromatic uses.

The presence of the autograph letter from J.B. Weckerlin adds extraordinary patrimonial and anecdotal value to this copy. By mentioning the address at 16, rue et hôtel Serpente, Weckerlin situates his dinner within the famous townhouse that housed both residence and C. L. F. Panckoucke’s publishing house (as evidenced by the printer’s imprint on volume 1). This document attests to the circulation of the work within Parisian intellectual, medical, and artistic networks in the 19th century.

Jean-Baptiste Weckerlin, composer and great bibliophile, was for more than thirty years the charismatic keeper of the Conservatoire de Paris library. A lover of old books and erudition, he rubbed shoulders with the foremost physicians and publishers of Greater Paris, regularly gathering at the famous literary and scientific dinners on Rue Serpente.