First edition, with subscribers' list, of this scarce guide book for Croome Court, the Worcestershire country seat of the Earl of Coventry which was notably transformed by Capability Brown in the mid-eighteenth century. The first portion of the text provides detailed descriptions of the site, the family, the approaches and entrances to the domain, the house (also designed by Brown), and, most importantly, the pleasure grounds and the Park, one of the "largest undertakings of Brown's early practice" (-Stroud, CAPABILITY BROWN, pg. 57). "In the grounds created out of what had been 'as hopeless a spot as any in the island', he formed a serpentine lake, built a grotto at the head of the water, and designed a tunnel under the main road to link parts of the estate. In this demanding commission, his success established beyond doubt his ability as an architect as well as as a landscape designer" (OXFORD COMPANION TO GARDENS, pg 75). These features are all described by Dean, accompanied by illustrations which depict the temple, the mansion (with view of the bridge), a view of Brown's church and one of his rotunda. Post-Brownian features such as the greenhouse designed by Robert Adam and the memorial to Brown are described in the text. An appendix provides extracts from historical notices of Croome and its occupiers starting with the Domesday Book and concluding with a description of the garden from the GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE, 1792. William Dean was the gardener at Croome and cultivated over 5000 different varieties of plants there, including a substantial collection of exotics. He has included with his guide a 147 page HORTUS CROOMENSIS, which provides a catalogue of these plants giving Latin binomial, English name, place of origin and time of flowering. In conclusion, Dean provides two short essays entitled "Observations On The Progagation of Exotics. (Part I, from Cuttings; Part II, from Seeds)" Abbey Scenery 416.

A beautifully hand-colored edition of a very scarce book - this version rare, indeed.   This “gift book” was offered by its publisher to accompany a rare series of coloured lithographs entitled LA NAISSANCE DES FLEURS. It comprises brief essays and poetry on individual flowers by early nineteenth century French women writers  - and Jules Baget and Mrs. Hemans -  and is embellished with four exquisitely hand watercoloured lithographed plates from drawings by Pierre Joseph Redouté, Lucy de Beaurepaire, Olympe Arson and Jules Dumas. A. Roulliet was the lithographer.  The selection opens with Jules Baget’s poem entitled “La Naissance Des Fleurs” in which he praises artists, Redouté in particular, for their ability to preserve the fleeting beauty of flowers by their art. Madame La Comtesse de Brade writes on the history and lore of the tulip, the violet, the apple and the lily, while other contributors offer poems to individual flowers. Each water-coloured lithographed plate marks a season represented by a flower or flower bouquet surrounded by a decoratively printed hand- coloured border. The lettering of the title page is also hand-coloured.  In 1837, Fleury Chavant published LA COURRONE DE FLORE (Vicaire p. 1044) which resembles this title in every respect but for the publisher, and the title page. Fleury Chavant’s ads for lithographic work, noting this title, are included at the end of the text. In the Fleury Chavant imprint, the title page informs the reader that the book is designed to accompany LA NAISSANCE DES FLEURS, a series of 50 sheets imprinted with designs of flower drawings and poetry, but this is an elusive piece noted only as “original art “ in Bnf. As Louis Janet was famous for his production of gift books, we surmise this was an initial effort to produce one from the Fleury Chavant plates lithographed in blue. The plain silk-paper over boards binding here could possibly have been prepared for a decorative slipcover or box. We have located no copies with the Janet imprint in OCLC, COPAC, the European Catalogue or CCFr. 

First edition. The author was a garden architect and engineer from Grenôble and Lyon. His "Essay On Gardens" begins with a general discussion of contemporary European garden design, including observations drawn from visits to gardens in Germany, England and France, followed by reflections on garden design in general (especially the jardin anglais) and specific recommendations for the layout and planting of gardens and parks. The second section of the book presents the author's plans for the Imperial gardens to be built next to the planned Napoleonic palace on the peninsula between the banks of the Saône and Rhône near the center of Lyon. The folding engraved plan for this project shows an extensive landscape garden in the "style anglais" to the south of the palace and a smaller and more formal area to the north. Ganay 164.

First edition, presentation copy to Gordon Knox, signed by Forestier. “(Forestier’s) friends noted his talents and asked him to design their grounds, and as a preparatory study for this he planned seventeen imaginary gardens, which later formed the central portion of his book “Jardins”.” (Fox, Helen Morgenthau. in “Jean C.N. Forestier”, LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE, 1930, pp. 93). Forestier was Conservateur of the Paris parks, city planner, designer of modern gardens, such as the rose and iris gardens at Bagatelle in the Bois de Boulogne, and authority on the design of Spanish and Arabic gardens. In JARDINS, Forestier went beyond the imaginary gardens proposed for friends to cover details of his approach to terraces, lawns, stairs, fountains, bassins, benches and tilework. A long list of his recommendations for best roses is included. Additionally, he offers illustration and commentary on gardens that made his fame: that of Joseph Guy at Beziers; of Montjuich at the Barcelona exposition; and of La Casa Del Rey Moro in Andalousia. “In his designs, plants partially erase, rather than reinforce, the rigor of the plan. This play between the grace of the vine and the strict line of the post situated Forestier precisely at the juncture of the jardin à la française and the cubist/modernist garden.” (Imbert, THE MODERNIST GARDEN IN FRANCE, p. 25) A signed presentation copy

This clever and lovely Belle Epoque advertising piece for the florist, Augustin, at 108-110 Boulevard St.-Germain in Paris encloses a small oval mirror for the lady who needs to know at a glance where to order table decorations, garlands and bouquets for balls and "soirees." The piece consists of three decoratively shaped cards with color printed designs and advertising copy, front and back, tied together by a ribbon at the bottom - one fans open the cards to find the mirror at the back surrounded by color printed floral decoration. The front card is graced with a spring/summer colored illustration of a cherub sitting on fruited tree limb: here is advertised the company's greenhouses located at Petit Chateau de Champignolles, La Varenne. Also advertised are wreaths, both natural and artificial (some executed in pearls, porcelaine or dried flowers), some for the gravesite, available at a dedicated location at 77 Blvd. St.-Germain. The company announces that it maintains a permanent display of bouquets for engagements and weddings. There is also a half year calendar, January through June giving saints names with the dates and a notice of the number of increasing minutes of daylight each month through June.

First edition. “Ce recueil est destiné à accompagner  La Naissance des Fleurs, ouvrage lithographique composé de 300 groupes de fleurs, par MM. Redouté, Baget, Dumas, etc.”.  Chavant’s NAISSANCE DES FLEURS  was a series of 50 individual “feuilles” issued by the editor Chavant with plates available separately for 1fr.50. (Chavant’s ads appear at the back of this text). This small book gathers together some of the  themes of the poets and prose writers who contributed to the NAISSANCE, with, in addition, 4 drawings lithographed by A. Rouillet from the work of J. P. Redouté, Olympe Arson, Jules Dumas and Lucy de Beaurepaire. Essays on the history and lore of individual flowers accompany poems on different flowers by contemporary authors. This is the “broché” issue, again, as described in the ads at the back. VICAIRE  Vol II, p. 1044. Scarce; we find three copies in OCLC, only one of which in the U.S. at Harvard/Houghton. 

Limited edition of 666 copies, this example #24 of 299 numbered copies bound in papier gris-ardoise. There are few vestiges left of Le Jardin des Surpises built in Attigny by the eccentric and multi-talented sculptor Renault. It was destroyed after the war and he rebuilt it some 300 meters away from the original site by re-cycling much of the sculpture. After his death, vandals destroyed most of what was left. This work is a catalogue of an “exhibition” devoted to the garden and Renault. Some biographical detail is provided and Renault’s work as an autodictact is mentioned in the context of “les inspirés,” such as le Facteur Cheval and Isidore or “Picassiette.” Given Renault’s work as a patissier  and cuisinier, an influence which showed in the sculptures of his gardens, connections with the work of Carême are also made. The photographic reproductions show the interiors of Renault’s Hotel des Deux Gares and of the Musée de la Guerre at Attigny. Photos of the garden include a view of the exterior of his second self-made house and a picture of Renault himself in the midst of his sculpture garden of animals, farm workers, etc. Shortly before his death he became a member of the Collège de Pataphysique, attaining the status of satrape shared by others such as Jean Dubuffet, Joan Miró, and Jacques Prévert. Uncommon.   A Pataphysicist’s Garden

The gardens at Betz were built by Marie-Catherine Brignolé, princess of Monaco, between 1780 and 1789. They formed an important parc à fabriques, created at least partly by a collaboration of Hubert Robert and the duc d'Harcourt. Cérutti visited the gardens in 1785 and composed this poem while there to recite as an entertainment for his host and fellow guests. It narrates a promenade through the park in the course of which each of its many picturesque fabriques and features is carefully described. It is easily the most detailed and complete contemporary account of this important jardin anglais, which was abandoned during the Revolution and later lost to neglect. Though not originally written for publication, the poem was eventually published shortly before the author's death together with the extensive footnotes on the gardens which more than double the text. The present copy is marked as "Seconde Édition," although its imprint gives a date of January 1792, the same date as the first. Ganay 538.

A most uncommon master’s thesis or “Memoire De Maitrise”, U.E.R. D’Historie de L’Art et D’Archéologie. The directeur de mémoire was M. le Professeur Bernard Dorival.Gilles Ragot went on to become an art historian, specialist in 20th century architecture, and author and/or co-author of several authoritative books on Le Corbusier. His 2 part, 3 volume thesis covers 21 villas designed by Le Corbusier in the region and includes a a plans of the situations of the villas in the Parisian and Boulogne su Seine regions and extensive analysis of architectural features. The work is heavily illustrated with reproductions of photographs and plans. Master’s Thesis on Le Corbusier et Pierre Jeanneret by a future authority.

First edition and a unique, extra-illustrated copy of this fanciful approach to the plants of the conservatory. At about this time, in England and on the continent, winter houses or conservatories were becoming popular additions to modest households, not just to grand estates as in the past. Here, Edmond de Sérigny makes the topic appealing by acting as an “interpreter” for a butterfly who enters such a conservatory just when he thinks he has seen the last of the seasonal flowers. The butterfly’s promenades are preceded by an introduction to botany taken almost entirely from Audouit’s L’Herbier des Demoiselles. Next begins the butterfly’s raptures over his discovery of the greenhouse/ conservatory. He wonders if he is suddenly in Brazil. Short chapters are devoted to 19 individual plants such as azaleas and primroses. Poetry, horticultural and botanical information and some lore is included. The regular text is illustrated from engravings by Bertall, Belaife et Bruno. The extra plates, many hand-coloured, of butterflies, flowers, and fruits, are in differing sizes and, obviously, from different sources. Unusual and charming. CCfr locates 2 copies (without the extra-illustration) of which one is a second edition of 1849. OCLC finds an additional copy in the Netherlands. Extra Illustrated

Six scarce and lovely chromolithographed views of various sites and structures in Central Park as they appeared within the first decade of its opening. These are album cards printed by America’s prolific chromolithographer Louis Prang and designed for inclusion in an album or scrapbook. There were 36 cards issued in total during this period, 12 per series. By 1869, another 2 series, titled a bit differently, were issued, making a total of 60 cards in all. Our six include: “Abode of the Swans; “The Music Temple”; “The Tower”; “Ornamental Bridge”; “The Drive”. and “The Bridle Path”. With the exception of the “Abode of the Swans”, where, of course, the swans gliding in their pond are the focus, the scenes are peopled showing current dress and fashion. “(Prang’s) publication of album cards was an especially happy idea. In the late nineteenth century an album holding colorful cards was found on the center table of every parlor. The cards were put up in envelopes containing twelve cards each, and their subjects included flowers, leaves, birds, butterflies, animals, marine and landscape views.” (McClinton. THE CHROMOLITHOGRAPHS OF LOUIS PRANG, page 4). We find a listing for the whole collection only in the Avery Library at Columbia.