BONAFOUS, Matthieu (1793-1852)

Estimate value
£ 9 000 – 12 000
Auction dateClassic
10.07.2024 10:30UTC +01:00
Auctioneer
CHRISTIE'S
Event location
United Kingdom, London
ID 1249769
Lot 175 | BONAFOUS, Matthieu (1793-1852)
BONAFOUS, Matthieu (1793-1852)
Histoire naturelle, agricole et économique du maïs. Paris: Madame Huzard, and Turin: Bocca, 1836.
For decades, the present work was regarded as the most authoritative reference on the cultivation of maize, indeed, even Charles Darwin (1809-1882) saw it as a seminal work. Matthieu Bonafous was a French botanist born in Lyon, specializing in technical agriculture, and with a particular interest in maize and its economic impact as food crop. In this volume, Bonafous describes the varieties grown in France, and at the time this work was prepared, more than twenty cultivars of maize were grown in Europe. Also included, highlighted by Stafleu, is the last technical botanical painting by Pierre-Joseph Redouté (1759-1840), Zea Cryptosperma. Bonaf. Maïs a grain recouvert. Great Flower Books, 1990, p79; Nissen BBI, 198; Pritzel, 966; Redouteana, 23.

Folio (540 x 350mm). Half-title, wood-engraved portrait vignette of the dedicatee, Henri-Alexandre Tessier (1741-1837), 11 wood-engraved vignettes, 15 stipple-engraved plates colour printed and finished by hand, after Redouté and others, with printed captions, 5 uncolored engraved plates of agricultural equipment and machinery, by and after Le Blanc (occasional spotting and finger-soiling throughout, crease-marks to half-title). Marbled boards, spine in six compartments, tooled in gilt with gilt lettering reading 'Bonafous Histoire Naturelle du Maïs' (lightly rubbed, corners worn).
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