Folio Book of Pierre-Joseph Redouté’s “Fruits and Flowers” by Eva Mannering

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On offer is a 1956 book that presents 24 large-format color plates carefully selected from Pierre-Joseph Redouté’s monumental 19th-century work, … Read more On offer is a 1956 book that presents 24 large-format color plates carefully selected from Pierre-Joseph Redouté’s monumental 19th-century work, “Choix des Plus Belles Fleurs et des Plus Beaux Fruits” ("Choice of the Most Beautiful Flowers and Most Beautiful Fruits"). The 24 plates include vibrant botanical studies like the Camellia japonica, Gentiana acaulis (Gentian), and Fragaria (Strawberry). This specific edition was published in New York by Crown Publishers, Inc. with high-quality color printing and plates crafted in Germany by K.G. Lohse, Frankfurt am Main.

ARTIST: Pierre-Joseph Redouté (1759–1840) is widely considered the most celebrated botanical painter in European history. Nicknamed "the Raphael of Flowers," Redouté was the official flower painter to the most powerful figures in France across shifting political regimes. He served as a draughtsman to Queen Marie Antoinette at Versailles. Remarkably, he survived the French Revolution and went on to become the court artist for Napoleon Bonaparte's first wife, Empress Joséphine. Under her patronage, he famously documented the rare and exotic plant collections at her estate, the Château de Malmaison.

Redouté revolutionized how botanical illustrations were reproduced. He mastered and popularized the color stipple engraving technique. Instead of rigid, cross-hatched lines typical of traditional engravings, stippling used thousands of tiny, varied ink dots. This allowed him to perfectly capture the translucent texture of delicate flower petals, smooth leaves, and subtle gradations of natural color.

Before Redouté, flower paintings were often either loose aesthetic still-lifes or stiff, dry scientific diagrams. Redouté insisted on painting from live specimens rather than dried herbarium samples. His magnum opuses—most notably Les Roses (recording 169 rose varieties) and Les Liliacées—married absolute scientific precision with exquisite composition, creating timeless landmarks in botanical literature.

AUTHOR: Edited and introduced by Eva Mannering, the book includes a historical introduction tracking the intersection of artistic expression and scientific illustration. Mannering was a mid-20th-century British author, editor and botanical art historian. She specialized in curating and documenting historical botanical illustrations, most notably collaborating with The Ariel Press in London during the 1950s and 1960s. The author is widely recognized for making the rare, masterwork portfolios of historical artists accessible to the public through meticulously produced, large-format folio editions such as this.

Signature/Maker’s Mark: Crown Publishers (photos #1, 2, 3). See less