Lot 105: RISSO, Joseph Antoine (1777-1845) and Pierre Antoine POITEAU (1766-1854). Histoire naturelle des Orangers. Paris: Henri Plon and G. Masson, 1872.

4 o (435 x 288 mm). Half-title, 2-page dedication. (Some browning and foxing.) 109 fine stipple-engraved plates printed in colors and finished by hand after Poiteau by V. Bonnefoi, Chailly, Dien, Gabriel, Legrand, T. Susimihl and Texier (some occasional foxing, pale browning and soiling). Contemporary half morocco (covers detached). Provenance : James R. Cass (donated in 1974 to); Massachusetts Horticultural Society (bookplate). FIRST EDITION, A RARE LARGE-PAPER COPY of this "beautiful and inspiring work" ( Great Flower Books ), covering over 70 varieties of sweet or bitter oranges, nearly fifty lemons and smaller numbers of limes, citrons, and grapefruit. It was first published at a time when Nice was still in the kingdom of the Two Sicilies, appearing in 19 fascicles between July 1818 and August 1820. The author, Antoine Risso, was a French apothecary and botanist who spent all his life in Nice. Antoine Poiteau, the illustrator, began his career as an apprentice gardener at the Jardin des Plantes, and spent some time in the Caribbean collecting plants before returning to Paris in 1800 and turning to botanical illustration, with an initial style modelled on Van Spaendonck and Redout‚. Apart from the illustrations, he provided much information on citrus varieties native to the Tropics. Oak Spring Pomona 76; Nissen BBI 1640; Great Flower Books, p.73; Dunthorne 263; Stafleu & Cowan TL2 9248.