‎Redouté, P.J. [in C.L. L'héritier de Brutelle]‎
‎Plectranthus fruticosus. Plate XLI from: Stirpes novae, aut minus cognitae, quas descriptionibus et iconibus illustravit.‎

‎1788 Handcoloured engraved plate drawn by Redouté and engraved by Pierre Maleuvre, broadsheet or large imperial folio (45 x 60 cm). Uncut. With marginal, unobtrusive small traces of watercolour, which makes me believe that this plate (and the other ten I have for sale) were used as examples for the colourists. At the back there are traces of glue which are not not affecting the front (stuck to a support for the colourists?). The imprint area quite clean, but the margins somewhat browned and with a few small brown spots. We also have for sale the general title-page and the title-pages of the first and second installments, and plates by Fossier and Freret.A beautiful plate after drawings by the young Pierre Joseph Redouté (1759-1840), then not yet 25 years old. This one is taken from the very rare deluxe large paper and hand-coloured edition of this work, with plates coloured by Piere Redouté and his brother Henri-Joseph Redouté. In 1965 about 44 copies of the work were known of which 9 incomplete, and of 31 studied only 11 were large-sized.In Stirpes novae Charles L'Héritier de Brutelle (1746-1800) described a great number of new species, many of which grew in his own garden, the gardens of his friends and in the Jardin du Roi. He had ample means and engaged the young Redouté to draw the majority of the plates (54 out of 91). The two developed a close friendship and L'Héritier taught Redouté the basics of plant taxonomy and dissection. The friendship proved a determining factor in Redouté's career and enabled him to fully develop his extraordinary talents. See: Günther Buchheim, 1965. A bibliographical account of L'Héritier's 'Stirpes novae'.‎

Reference : BF28077

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