작품 상세

Plate selected from Histoire générale des insectes de Surinam et de toute l'Europe. Troisième édition revue, corrigée et considérablement augmentée par M. Buch'oz. A laquelle on a joint une troisième partie qui traite des plus belles fleurs. Published in Paris, Desmos, 1771. The rarest of Desnos's extraordinary publications, the present work is an unacknowledged fourth edition of Daniel Rabel's Theatrum florae. The plants depicted include all the most decorative flowers available to 17th-century gardeners and is truly 'une tres-jolie collection qui ont ete dessinees & gravees d'apres nature' (see preface to vol.I). The fact that Rabel's name is omitted is not surprising since it is not included in any of the earlier editions, and it is only in the last 60 years that the work has been re-attributed to him. Rabel enjoyed a considerable reputation during his lifetime. Rightfully, he has now been rescued from obscurity, indeed, Blunt considered Rabel to be one of the two greatest French botanical artists of the 17th century, noting that his work, along with that of his successor Nicolas Robert, was 'consummate in its perfection' (The Art of Botanical Illustration p.114).