Flore des serres et des jardins de l'Europe, ou Descriptions des plantes les plus rares et les plus méritantes, nouvellement introduites sur le continent ou en Angleterre.

23 vol., 8vo (n.c.).

Contemp. red polished sheep with corners signed Couttenier Frères, marbled paper on covers, gilt-ruled spines with 4 raised bands (some faded), marbled endpapers. Good set, very min. spotting on the margins.

Complete set in 23 volumes of one of the finest horticulture journals of the mid-19th c. Illustrated with +/- 1.965 lithographic plates (some folding) expertly hand-finished in rich and luminous colours (gum heightened) protected with tissue guards. Some full-page b/w plates showing a.o. portraits of Van Houtte and Decaisne and a monument to Van Houtte in Gentbrugge. The illustrations of the "Flore de serres" depict flowers and plants for sale in the Van Houtte nursery. Piece by piece examples of the ultimate craftmanship of the Belgian lithographers at the time. Besides trees, plants and flowers, both terrestrial and aquatic, the illustrations also depict aquaria, greenhouses, gardens, fountains, journeys, animals, garden tools, etc. The "notices historiques, scientifiques, étymologiques, synonymiques, horticulturales, etc." (cf. title vol. I), are edited by Charles Lemaire, Scheidweiler, Louis Van Houtte (cfr the necrology and portrait in vol. XXII) and other European botanists. Volume XI (1856), starting the 2nd series of this periodical, is titled: "Flore des serres et des jardins de l'Europe. Journal général d'horticulture [...]", which will then become "Flore des serres et des jardins de l'Europe, Annales générales d'horticulture" starting from vol. XVI (1865-1867).
Ref. Pritzel 10738* (mentions 17 vol. from 1845 till 1870). - Nissen (BBI) 2254. - Stafleu & Cowan VI:15.921.