The Volumes:
The exceptionally rare series: Estampes pour servir l’Histoire des Plantes, with plates by or after Nicolas Robert, represent work by the greatest botanical artist of the seventeenth century. The work was never published or offered for public sale, and the few full sets were probably given as Royal gifts sometime in the 18th century.

"The original idea for this encyclopaedic undertaking was conceived by Perrault and the proposal was enthusiastically received by Colbert, minister to Louis XIV, although it appears to have actually begun to take shape only when the botanist Denis Dodart (1634-1707) joined the Academie in 1673. His work, Memoires pour servir a l'Histore des Plantes, which was intended to form the introductory volume to this series, appeared in 1675 and contained thirty-nine plates by Robert. The plates in the series would be drawn directly from life, the artist making every effort to present the plants in their actual dimensions" (Lucia Tongiorgi Tomasi An Oak Spring Flora p 168).

Louis de Chatillon (1639-1734), who engraved this plate, continued the work after Robert's death in 1684.

These original copperplates were apparently held by the King since their creation, & now exist in the collection of the Louvre Museum. Some of these plates were reprinted by hand from the original plates & offered to collectors, which was virtually the only way to acquire prints of these plates. Some years ago, the Louvre decided to discontinue offering any plates before the mid-19th c, apparently in order to preserve the archive from further wear.

The Artist & Engraver:
Nicolas Robert (1614–1685) began his career as an illustrator of decorative floral arrangements. Over the course of his career, he took an increasingly scientific approach to botanical observation, frequently including details such as roots, seeds, and leaves.

Robert developed a stronger interest in and knowledge of botany after he was employed to paint the collection of flowers, animals, and birds at Blois by Gaston d’Orléans, the younger brother of Louis XIII and the son of Marie de’ Medici. Robert Morrison (1620–1683), a Scottish botanist and director of the garden, undoubtedly had an influence on Robert’s work as it clearly became more focused on the scientific aspects of the plants. After Gaston’s death, Robert was invited by Louis XIV to continue his work in Paris at the Jardin du Roi and at Versailles.

The patronage that Robert received from wealthy amateur collectors and those at court was a direct result of the burgeoning interest in botanical science, stimulated by the introduction of exotics from both expeditions and new overseas colonies. Contemporary developments in scientific botany helped to provide Robert with an objectivity toward his subject as previously plants had been selected for illustration according to their symbolic, curative, or ornamental value.

Louis de Chastillon (c.1639–1734) was a French painter in enamel and miniature, and an engraver. Chastillon was born at Ste. Ménehould in Champagne about 1639. He excelled in enamel painting, and executed all the portraits which the king gave, set in jewels, to the foreign ambassadors. He engraved several large plates after the designs of Jean Tortebat. He died at the Louvre in 1734. 

The Plates & Technique:
Line-engraving or Copperplate engraving is a highly exacting & labor-intensive process for intaglio printmaking. The original drawing is cut into the surface of a copper or steel plate with a hand-held sharp steel point or burin, with shading created by many fine cut lines, or hatching. Before printing takes place, the plate is heated, covered with ink. The warm ink seeps into the finest of depressions and fills the lines and textures of the drawing. The rest of the plate is cleaned off. The copper plate is now pressed with a printing press on to moistened paper which soaks up the ink from the depressions in the plate. The copperplate-engraving technique is very exacting, time-consuming and exhausting for the engraver, who needs a lot of strength for it.

Every part of these prints was made by hand: Hand drawn & engraved on Copper or steel which was hand-mined, smelted & rolled, printed onto handmade cotton rag paper, inked & colored with hand-ground pigments individually by hand, & they were usually hand sewn into handmade leather-bound books.

Condition:
Excellent condition, almost pristine, some possible faint artifacts from handling a sheet this huge, overall an exceptionally well-preserved plate.

These prints are often very old & may have minor imperfections expected with age, such as some typical age-toning of the paper, oxidation of the old original watercolors, spots, text-offsetting, artifacts from having been bound into a book & handled, etc.  Occaisionally a gallery or dealer in the past would lightly pencil an inventory note on the back or in a margin on the sheet. Please examine the photos & details carefully.

Text Page(s): This one comes without original text pages.

Size: 24-1/2" x 17-1/2" approximately.

Combined Shipping:
Yes! Multiple prints can be combined into one package. Larger prints may need to be shipped in tube. eBay should auto-combine your items if you put all of your selections into your shopping cart & check out all together as one order. If you purchase them individually, eBay charges shipping on each, which I then will need to refund after. If you're assessed multiple shipping charges for one combined package, I will endeavor to refund any overage asap.

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