Le floriste françois traittant de l’origine des tulipes : de l’ordre qu’on doit observer pour les cultiver & planter, comme la nature leur donne la diuersté de leurs couleurs, du moyen de les faire embellir, et de leurs maladies, & remedes : avec vn catalogue des noms des tulipes, & distinctions de leurs couleurs / par le Sr. de la Chesnee Monstereul.

A Caen : Chez Eleazar Mangeant, sur le Pont S. Pierre MDCLIIII [1654]

1 volume ; 17 cm

This is a PRELIMINARY RECORD. It may contain incorrect information. Please email catalog@folger.edu for assistance.

France -- Caen, -- publication place.

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From dealer's description: "27 LA CHESNÉE MONSTEREUL, Charles de (1623- c. 1700). Le Floriste François traittant de l’Origine des Tulipes. De l’ordre qu’on doit observer pour les cultiver & planter. Comme la Nature leur donne la diversté de leurs couleurs. Du moyen de les faire embellir. Et de leurs maladies, & remedes. Avec un Catalogue des noms des Tulipes, & distinctions de leurs couleurs. 8° (158x105 mm). [44], 250, [4] pp. With the frontispiece of the 1658 edition engraved by Dacquet. Contemporary vellum, spine with manuscript title. Some browning and staining in places. Caen, Eleazar Mangeant, 1654. chf 4800 Very rare first edition. The first French treatise and one of the first ever on the cultivation of tulips. Tulips are best remembered as the object of inflated expectation during the Dutch Tulipmania in the early 17th century. Even after prices tanked in 1637, the tulip remained an elite commodity. As interest in cultivating exotic and distinguished gardens increased throughout the seventeenth century, the tulip took on new meanings as a symbol of personal distinction and connoisseurship . Le Floriste François is one of the earliest treatises on tulips to be published after the bubble burst in 1637. It was written by a gentlemen gardener, the Sieur de la Chesnée Monstereul who dedicated it to a noblewoman, Mademoiselle de Beuvron, a scion of the House of d’Harcourt, who is mentioned by Tallemant des Réaux in his Historiettes as “une des plus belles personnes de la cour”. The text contains a history of the tulip, how to cultivate the flower, a catalogue of tulip names and, most importantly, the first serious consideration of the nature and causes of tulip breaking, a phenomenon in which multi-coloured streaks appear in the petals of the tulip. “La Chesnée Monstereul claims to know the secret to breaking tulips ... He insists, however, that this knowledge was only suitable for manuscript circulation so not to allow such secrets of Divinity to be profaned by the vulgar. Instead, he cryptically encodes this process into a bizarre poem so as only to be understood by Sages Curieux (curious sages). He justifies his secrecy by citing Francis Bacons treatise on Art and Nature: it is not reasonable that such a curious person has obtained some knowledge by his industry, to publish it to all; especially since it is madness to give lettuce to an Ass, seeing that the thistles suffice for him.” The volume is introduced by dedicatory poems written by prominent members of the Norman elite including Madame de Scudéry (one of the central figures of the Précieuses movement), the dramatist Tristan l’Hermite and the founder of the Caen Académie, Jacques Moisant de Brieux (cf. Claire McLeod). The book was printed by Eleazar Mangeant, the son of the prominent Protestant printer Simon Mangeant, then reprinted by Louis du Mesnil at Rouen in 1658 and again several times in the 17th and 18th, both in Paris and the French provinces. Although available in some libraries, the book is very rarely found on the market. Provenance: J. B. de Locquenghien, a monk from Reims, manuscript entry on front pastedown with date 1752. – La Germonière, with bookplate. References: Lindley Library Catalogue, p. 244; National Agricultural Library, 90, p. 53; G. Gibault, Jour. Soc. nat. hort. France, vol. IV, 1905, p. 734; Meritte-Longchamp, Catalogue des livres publiés à Caen (1842), 43: Claire MacLeod. Roses are Red, Violets are Blue, this Book about Tulips is Too Good for You. USTC News, 5 April 2021. 28 LA VALLIÈRE SALE – DEBURE, Guillaume (1734- 1820). Catalogue des Livres de la Bibliothèque de feu M Le Duc de la Vallière Première partie contenant les manuscrits, les premières éditions, les livres imprimés sur vélin & sur grand papier, les livres rares, & précieux par leur belle conservation, les livres d’estampes, etc dont la vente se fera dans les premiers jours du mois de décembre 1783. Three volumes 8° (197x119 mm). [4], LXIV, 71 (additions), 602; [4], 758; [4], 388, 376 (table des noms) 92 (table der titres), X, 90 (supplément), 42, [1] (price list and note) pp. Frontispiece portrait, one folding engraved plate, and four facsimile plates. Contemporary calf, spine gilt with red and green lettering pieces. Wear to corners and caps, toned in places, first line of title of vol. 2 a touch cropped. Paris, chez Guillaume de Bure fils aîné, 1783." Ordered from Erasmushaus, D9741, 2024-04-18, Cat. Rare Books List XV", item #27

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