Ventenat. Tableau du règne végétal.
First edition with 24 plates from Redouté
VENTENAT, Etienne Pierre. Tableau du règne végétal selon la méthode de Jussieu.
Paris, J. Drisonnier, An VII, [1799].
450 €
8mo (7,7x4,9 inches) of P1 : lvvii pp., 627 pp., [1] ff., ; P2 : [2] ff., 607 pp., [1] pp., ; P3 : [2] ff., 597 pp., [1] pp., ; P4 : [2] ff., 265 pp., 24 plates. illustration: Twenty four plate of Redouté, engraved by Sellier. binding: Contemporary full granite sheepskin. Spine gilt in six compartments with raised bands, title and volume number in gilt on lettering-pieces. Covers with decorative roll border. Gilt rolls on edges. Title page and half title of TI are missing. Corners with small lacks of leather. Joint of Part 3 cracked on few centimeters.
Pierre Etienne Ventenat (Limoges 1757, Paris 1808), is a French botanist.
In 1794 he published the Principles of Botany. Dissatisfied with the book, Ventenat tries to redeem and to destroy all copies. Not a chance, it was even translated to German.
Two years later, he recast what was good in a large work, entitled "Tableau du règne végétal ". The background of this book is based on the Genera plantarum of Jussieu.
However it is far from either a literal translation. The descriptions of the classes and orders were reduced as much as possible to what is essential, many curious remarks on the properties of plants, their uses, the etymology of their names, make reading, interesting.
A dictionary of botanical and physical plant, which forms the first volume, explains the terms of art and gives a basic understanding of key phenomena of vegetation.
First edition.
references: Georges Cuvier: Éloge historique de Ventenat, 1809. Nissen [2051].
