Melon

Melon TURPIN (Pierre-Jean François) and PANCKOUCKE (Ernestine) Etching, circa 1820 Published by Panckoucke, Paris Sheet dimension: 19.5 x 12 cm Subject dimension: 15.7 x 8.8 cm Plate no. 251 and no. 251 bis presenting the Melon in the form of flowers, then fruit, appearing in the botanical treatise and repertoire of plant iconography, "La Flore médicale." It contains the description of more than 350 medicinal plants and information on their virtues and medical uses. It is one of the most important herbals of the early 19th century, printed in colors. "La Flore médicale" is the flora of the Dictionary of Medical Sciences, a work in sixty volumes, published from 1812 to 1822 by the same publisher, Charles-Louis-Fleury Joseph Panckoucke. Very good condition, period coloring. Ernestine Panckoucke (1784-1860), wife of the publisher of the Flora, was a student of the great flower painter Gérard Van Spaendonck and especially of Pierre-Joseph Redouté. A flower painter with a predilection for watercolor, she exercises her talent here in botanical drawing. However, almost all the illustrations are by Pierre-Jean-François Turpin (1775-1840), a botanist and remarkable draftsman responsible for numerous botanical illustrations, including those of a Parisian Flora.