Auction details
10:00 AM PT - Nov 11th, 2008
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ROBERT, Nicolas (1614-1685). Variæ ac multiformes florum species appressæ ad vivum et æneis tabulis incisæ. Authore N. Robert. Diverses fleurs dessinées et gravées d'aprés le naturel par N. Robert. Paris: Poilly [n.d. but circa 1742]. 4to (265 x 199 mm). Engraved title, 30 engraved plates, all expertly hand-colored at a later date. Blue straight-grained morocco gilt by Devauchelle, covers panelled in gilt, the flat spine tooled and lettered in gilt, red calf doublures bordered in gilt, marbled free endpapers, g.e. Condition: two tears to engraved title neatly repaired, small section of upper blank corner renewed, small erasure marks on lower margin of plates 9 and 27 affecting imprint on plate 9. Provenance: Anonymous owner (sale Sotheby's London June 22 1989 lot 120). a very attractive copy of this important early flower book with very fine plates from "one of the most outstanding flower painters of the 17th century". (Oak Spring Flora). Nicolas Robert's "earliest work was the Fiori Diversi published in Roma in 1640 and he confirmed an already growing reputation in 1641 by painting the exquisite Guirlande de Julie, an album prepared for beautiful Julie d'Angennes .Gaston d'Orléans then employed Robert to make a permanent record of his collection of plants at Blois, and after Gaston's death, Robert was chosen as the chief illustrator for the Histoire des Plantes projected by the newly founded Académie Royale des Sciences .The plates in the Diverses Fleurs . were adapted by Maria Sibylla Merian as illustrations for her Histoire des Insectes de l'Europe, Amsterdam, 1730, and were also used as models for the anonymous Nederlantsch Bloemwerk, Amsterdam, 1794" (Hunt). BM (NH) IV, p.1712; Hunt 282; Nissen BBI 1645; Oak Spring Flora 42.ImagesClick on thumbnails to see larger images: 
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