BULLIARD (Jean-Baptiste François, dit Pierre).Flora parisien - Lot 14

BULLIARD (Jean-Baptiste François, dit Pierre).Flora parisiensis, ou descriptions et figures des plantes qui croissent aux environs de Paris, Avec les différens noms, classes, ordres et genres qui leur conviennent, rangés suivant la méthode sexuelle de M. Linné leurs parties caractéristiques, ports, propriétés, vertus et doses d'usage en Médecine, suivant les démonstrations de Botanique sui se fond au Jardin du Roy.Paris: P. Fr. Didot le Jeune, 1776-[1783]. -6 volumes in-8, 198 x 122: (2 ff.), 32 pp. with engraved title, (112 ff.), 114 plates, 1 engraved f.; (114 ff.), 113 plates; (136 ff.), 135 plates; (111 ff.), 110 plates; (115 ff.), 114 plates; (56 ff.), 52, 16 pp. with 56 plates. Marbled half calf with ivory parchment corners, ornate ribbed spine, speckled edges (period binding).First and only published edition of this remarkable botanical work by botanist Pierre Bulliard (1742-1793), devoted to the plants of the Paris region. In this work, Bulliard set himself a two-fold objective: to bring together all the advantages of botany and to make this science accessible to all, especially medical students. To achieve this, he adopted a pedagogical and practical approach. The publication appeared in quires or issues from 1776 to 1783. The plates were arranged in alphabetical order, allowing readers to classify plants according to their preferences. In all, a color-engraved title and 642 color plates were published, including 2 for the Introduction to Botany, all drawn and engraved by the author. The "Première table élémentaire des figures et de leurs noms" (First elementary table of figures and their names), part of the introduction, is also fully engraved. Each plate is accompanied by a description following Linnaeus' classification, with genus, French name, Latin name and vulgar name. Bulliard pays particular attention to the popular names used by country folk, an initiative long awaited but never achieved before. For medicinal virtues, he relies on the best medical works of his time, specifying plant preparations, doses and uses, in order to offer a practical guide, especially useful in rural areas, where medical resources are scarce. In this way, he hoped to help distinguish between beneficial and harmful plants, for both humans and domestic animals. This copy includes the first printed title, carefully reassembled, as well as all the essential text leaves: the introduction to botany, Linné's classes and orders, the French table, the errata, the "Exposition du système sexuel du chevalier Linné" - which indicates the order in which plants should be classified - and the rare "Nouvelle table du Flora Parisiensis". As is often the case with this edition, the title of the last volume is missing, as are the two leaves of approval and privilege in the first volume. A precious copy by the magistrate, agronomist, writer and politician Charles-Gilbert, vicomte Morel de Vindé (1759-1842). Rather than following the Linnaean order adopted by Bulliard, Morel de Vindé chose to rearrange the plates according to the classification proposed by Lamarck in his Flore française (1778). To do this, he designed handwritten title pages, numbered the plates accordingly, and added a "Table de concordance" to compare Bulliard's order with Lamarck's, which he retained for his copy. He explains this at the end of the last volume in this autograph note: "On all the plates of the six volumes there are 2 numbers, one at the top, the other at the bottom of the plate. The number at the bottom is the order number adopted by Bulliard, in accordance with Lynnée's system developed by classes, page 38 of the tables in Bulliard's 6th volume. These same order numbers are repeated in the new table of French names which concludes this 6th volume. But the linear order adopted by Bulliard not having suited me under the report of the herborization which I made with the assistance of the 1st edition of the French Flora of Lamarck (1778), I arranged all these same plates, according to the order in which the dilêmes of Lamarck bring the plants which they represent, and I placed at the top of these same plates, the nos of this new order from 1 to 640." In addition to these notes and additions, handwritten corrections can be found in some of the descriptions. A very fine, well-preserved copy. Old private library label at top of spines. Provenance: Charles-Gilbert, vicomte Morel de Vindé.