"Legumes constitute, without doubt, one of the most remarkable families in the vegetable kingdom."

A.P. de Candolle; Frans A. Stafleu [bibliographical notes]

Mémoires sur la famille des légumineuses [Articles on the Legume Family]

Lehre: J. Cramer, 1966 [1825]. Very Good. Item #9426

Lehre: J. Cramer, 1966. First Thus of reprint edition in facsimile of volume published in Paris in 1825. Octavo (28x20x3.5cm); [ii] + vi + 525pp + 2 fold-out geographical distribution tables + 70 full-page plates. The copper engraving plates reproduce the botanical drawings by Jean-Christophe [Kumpfler] Heyland. [Entirely in French with the exception of the reprint publisher's two-page English introduction.]

Hunter green cloth with gilt spine stamping. Heavy ivory laid paper with engravings reproduced on coated stock at the rear. Binding shows very minor scuffing and polite corner bumps, both probably due to infrequent shelving activity. Some slight yellowing around the edges of the coated plate paper (exaggerated somewhat by our photographic lighting). The textblock is pristine, unmarred and unmarked apart from previous owner's small blind pressure stamp on pp. 341-44, with the motto "Post Tenebras Lux." There are no signs that the volume was ever consulted, much less read.

Augustin Pyramus de Candolle (1778-1841), Swiss botanist, first published this study in 1825 (with Paris publisher A. Belin), as a sibling volume for his Prodromus systematis naturalis regni vegetabilis [Historical Introduction to the Natural System of the Vegetable Kingdom], in which he inaugurates a new taxonomy of botanical names for our legume friends—and in which de Candolle is candid about wanting priority and credit for the new names. Bean pride.

The detailed illustrations are engraved after drawings by Jean-Christophe Heyland (1791-1866) who started his career as a hairdresser and became one of the most renowned illustrators for Swiss, Italian, and French botanists. Such could once be the career path for those skilled in the arrangement of tendrils, cranial or botanical.

Price: $150.00