Natural History Study of Camellia Nereiflora.

Engraved by Oudet.

In the top right-hand corner is numbered: “Pl. 179”.

Stipple engraving, partly colored printed, finished by hand, heightened with gum Arabic.
Sheet size: 34 x 26,5 cm.

Generally, very good condition with the usual light toning at the edges.
From: The Abbe Lorenzo Berlèse,  Iconographie du Genre Camellia ou Description et Figures Des Camellia Les Plus Beaux et Les Plus Rares Peints D’Aprés Nature, H. Cousin, Paris, 1841-1843.
[Iconography of the Camellia or Description and Pictures of the Most Beautiful and the Most Rare Camellias Painted from Nature].

The Abbe Laurent Berlèse (1784-1863) was a wealthy Italian abbot who carried out his botanical studies in Paris, where he established his own greenhouses.  The camellia, which originated in China and Japan, was still something of an exotic plant.  First reported in European scientific literature around 1700, travelers to Asia brought back cultivars during the 18th century.  The first illustrations from live specimens, by British natural history artist George Edwards, appeared mid 18th century.  Berlèse’s achievement was the establishment of a classification system for camellias based on the flower form.  By the third of edition of his Monographie du Genre Camellia (1837-1840) he listed 701 varieties.  He followed this work with the influential Iconographie du Genre Camellia, a major three-volume study of 300 varieties (the source of these prints).  In 1846, he sold his camellia collection to a commercial grower, returned to Italy and published no further works on the subject.

Johann Jacob Jung (1819 - 1844 Frankfurt am Main). German painter and drawing artist, a prominent member of the Frankfurt Nazarenes. Learned lithography at Friedrich Carl Vogel’s Lithographic Workshop in Frankfurt am Main. From 1834, he studied painting at the Städel Institute as a pupil of Philipp Veit. He produced the preparatory drawings for Lorenzo Berlese’s *Iconographie du Genre Camellia* (1841–43). Around 1842, he took up a teaching post at the Städel Art Institute. His pupils included, amongst others, Anton Burger.

Oudet, French engraver, active in Paris between 1826 and 1853, known for medical, natural history, and botanical illustrations.

N. Remond, 19th-century Parisian printer. His printing shop was located at 15, rue de Vieille-Estrapade, Paris, and he produced scientific, botanical, and medical engravings around the 1850s. 

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