BUC'HOZ, Pierre Joseph Les dons merveilleux et diversement coloriŽs de la nature dans le regne animal, ou collection d'animaux precieusement coloriŽs... Paris, chez l'auteur, 1782 1782
2 vols, folio (451 x 275 mm), ff [8, comprising four titlepages, one leaf of explanation and list of plates in each volume], with 200 hand-coloured engraved plates; a few blank corners torn, a fine copy in contemporary French red morocco, gilt fillets on sides, spine gilt with fleurons, gilt edges, a few minor repairs to the binding. Ł45,000
First edition of one of the rarest of Buc'hoz's works, a collection of stunning plates covering all aspects of the animal kingdom: quadrupeds (including humans), birds, fish, reptiles, shells, butterflies and other insects, etc.
The first volume includes a number of tropical species from Asia and the Americas, with an emphasis on animals from the French colonies. The second volume is divided into various sections. After an initial miscellany of 42 plates, again covering exotic and newly discovered species, there is a section with its own titlepage devoted to different 'races' of man, with six plates. This is followed by a section devoted to monkeys and apes, with 21 plates. Finally, there is a section of 31 plates of the quadrupeds of France, based upon Buffon. The plates in this section have extensive engraved text captions, and the plates are signed 'De Seve del. ... M.T. Rousselet sculpt.'
Because the sectional titles and the leaf of explanation are included in the list of plates at the end of each volume, a total of 204 plates are listed, but in fact there were only 200 plates per se published. As with other works by Buc'hoz, some of these are original, whereas others probably appeared in various guises in other works by Buc'hoz.
Buc'hoz published three works entitled Les dons merveilleux, one on botany, which appeared in 1779, one on minerals, which appeared in 1782-93, and finally the present work. Of the three this is by far the rarest, no copy having appeared at auction in over 40 years.
Nissen ZBI 651; OCLC gives no U.S. locations
Ł45000
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