Description
Description of Pancrace Bessa's Herbier General de L'Amateur
These beautiful copper engravings are from Herbier General de L'Amateur... drawn by Pancrace Bessa. They are from a first edition printed in Paris between 1810 and 1827 by Mordant de Launay and J.L.A. Loiseleur-Deslongchamps. Bessa, educated in the art by the renowned Pierre Redoute, is considered one of the greatest botanical artists of the 19th century. This work, his most remarkable, was patronized by the Duchesse de Berry. Bessa's other very famous work, Flore de Jardiners..., published approximately 20 years later, contains the same plates as Herbier General with following additions all printed in small italics on each plate: habitat, date of flowering, and key to smaller dissection images. The coloring on these original first editions offered here have far superior color than the later edition They are fine hand colored engravings on watermarked, chain-link paper that measures ~ 6 1/4" by 9 3/4".