LATOUR (Ch. de). Le Langage des fleurs. Paris, Audot, [1819] - Lot 71

LATOUR (Ch. de). Le Langage des fleurs. Paris, Audot, [1819], in-12, pink calf, cold roulette around the covers set with straight or curved gilt fillets, ornate smooth spine, gilt edges (period binding). Collation: engraved frontispiece, 1 engraved title page, XVI pp., 299 pp. 13 engraved plates. First edition. The end of the work is occupied by a dictionary of the language of flowers. An engraved frontispiece, an engraved title, 12 plates, each named after a month of the year, from March to February, and an engraved plate depicting a poem. The 12 flower plates are after Bessa (1772-1846), and have been interpreted by Victor. A well-preserved copy in contemporary colors. Spine slightly lighter. Dimensions : 135 x 80 mm. Nissen, Die botanische Buchillustration..., 1143 (ed. 1819 (does not cite 13th plate), 1833, 1836); Gumuchian, 2661 (ed. 1858); Blunt (W.) - Stearn (T.), The Art of Botanical illustration, p. 251 ("The sentimental flower book originated in France, where the able artists Bessa and Poiteau make quick money by work which, though charming in its way, was unworthy of their great ability. Charles Malo's Guirlande de Flore (1815) and Parterre de Flore (1820), and Charlotte de Latour's Le Langage des Fleurs (1833), all illustrated by Bessa, are typical examples. The translation of the last-named book into English gave birth to a host of imitations, adaptations, and agreeable trifles of a similar nature...")