The Artist & Author:

Jean Henri Jaume Saint-Hilaire (1772 – 1845) was a French naturalist and artist, born in Grasse, France.

He wrote a guide to the new Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, and learned floral painting from Gérard van Spaendonck (1746-1822).

In 1805 he wrote his first important publication: Exposition des familles naturelles et de la germination des plantes... [An exposition about natural families and the germination of plants, containing the description of 2,337 genera and about 4,000 species, 112 plates whose figures were drawn by the author]. In it, he popularized the classification of Antoine-Laurent de Jussieu (1748-1836).

During 1808-1809 and 1819–1822, Jaume published ten volumes about French plants: Plantes de la France décrites et peintes d’après nature [French plants described and painted from nature], grouping together one thousand engravings that he had made himself.

From 1828-1833 (-1835), he published La Flore et la Pomone Françaises, ou histoire et figure en couleur, des fleurs et des fruits de France ou naturalisés sur le sol français (from whence this print likely comes), in 5 (or 6) volumes, with 544 fine engraved plates by the author, printed in colors with hand-finishing.

The Volumes: 

La Flore et la Pomone Françaises was published between 1828 & 1835. "It was planned to publish 800 plates but as far as we know the regular publication was terminated with plate 544" (Stafleu & Cowan 3311). 

Three issues appeared of the work one in octavo, the here offered quarto, and 12 copies were issued in folio. This print is apparently from the very rare, larger quarto version.

I find only one offering for the full set of 6 volumes in this rare quarto-sized version, currently offered for US$ 7,202.69.

The Plate:

This beautiful fruit print of Pears (from the 'Pamone' series) is gorgeously rendered in this stipple-engraving, showing the many colors of the fruit, with modeling, lighting, exquisite coloring worked into the copper engraving by hand.  The rendering, composition, engraving & delicate hand-coloring are all superb.

These are very limited editions, the plates very beautiful, & quite rare. I find no other copies of this plate offered anywhere.

The drawing & coloring are quite stunning. It's a beautiful plate, full of the passion that the early flower painters, botanists & gardeners had for these amazing flowers, many of which were discovered in the pristine reaches of the ever-expanding euro-empires of the era & by intrepid explorers of the time.

These gorgeously drawn, engraved & colored 'À la poupée' (colored in the plate) original prints were presented on their page with consistently balanced, beautiful compositions.

Every part of these prints was made by hand: Hand drawn & engraved on Copper which was hand-mined, smelted & rolled, printed onto handmade cotton rag paper, inked & colored with hand-ground pigments individually by hand, & they were usually hand sewn into handmade leather-bound books.

Condition:

Appears to be in good-to-excellent condition for a centuries-old engraving. The delicate hand-coloring appears to remain sharp & brilliant as the day it was painted. Few tiny pinholes as one finds with these, at the top margin. The paper is a bit more age-toned than some of the others. Some foxing, handling, light wrinkles in the paper as is often typical of bookplates.

These prints are very old & may have minor imperfections expected with age, such as some typical age-toning of the paper, oxidation of the old original watercolors, spots, text-offsetting, stains, artifacts & character from  having been bound into a book, occasional light pencil markings on the backs or in margins, sometimes even notes by the original owner of the volumes, etc. Please examine the photos & details carefully.

Text Page(s): This one comes without its original text page. A scan of the title page is included in the photos for reference, it's not part of this listing.

About this gorgeous fruit:

• The Pear, (genus Pyrus), genus of some 20–45 trees and shrubs in the rose family (Rosaceae), including the common pear (Pyrus communis).
• One of the most important fruit trees in the world, the common pear is cultivated in all temperate-zone countries of both hemispheres. The fruit is commonly eaten fresh or is canned. It is also used to produce perry, an alcoholic beverage. Several species, such as the Callery pear (P. calleryana), are grown as ornamentals.
• The common pear is probably of European origin and has been cultivated since ancient times. The pear was introduced into the New World by Europeans as soon as the colonies were established. Early Spanish missionaries carried the fruit to Mexico and California. 
  
• The 5 varieties labeled (1. Blanquet a longue queue.   2. Ognonet    3. Epine rose   4.  Fin or d'Ete) are not easy to find so far among the thousands of pear cultivars...
  

Shipping: Multiple prints combine into one USPS Flat-Rate envelope. If you're assessed multiple shipping for one combined package, we'll endeavor to refund any overage asap.

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