Fleurs poétiques dédiées a S.A.R. Madame, duchesse de Berry ……

18mo (144 × 94 mm), pp. xi, [1], 187, [3], including half-title (with advert to rear), plus 16 colour printed botanical plates with tissue guards. Contemporary (?publisher’s) quarter red morocco gilt with red paper covered sides, decorative pale blue endpapers, marbled edges, silk ribbon. Two ex libris labels (one early, ‘G. Lenfant’) the other later and a rebus. An excellent copy.

First edition of this delightful collection of floral poetry illustrated with unusual colour printed plates, each of two or three tints probably applied to the plate simultaneously. They are described by the online catalogue of the Bibliothèque nationale as lithographs, but they appear to be a kind of stipple engraving. A couple are marked as being after drawings by Poitreau, one of the most prominent botanical artists of the era (alongside Redouté). The work is dedicated to the young salon host, collector and bibliophile, the duchesse de Berry (1798-1870).
The plates comprise: Le lis, la rose, la violette, la fleur d’oranger, la scabieuse, le bleuet, l’immortelle, la perce-neige, le soleil, les marguerites, le laurier rose, l’hortensia, le souci, l’astérie, le pavot et le narcisse and le lilas.