Le Jardin des Plantes.
Le Jardin des Plantes. Compositions et dessins par A. Adam. Texte par Jules Rostaing.
Paris: Ducrocq, probably 1873.
Oblong folio, 24 colour-printed plates and 41 pp. text; original red cloth, embossed in gilt.
With kangaroos and, more remarkably, a platypus
A lovely edition of this work, designed as a series of three "promenades" through the Jardin des Plantes in Paris.
A lovely edition of this work, designed as a series of three "promenades" through the Jardin des Plantes in Paris.
Although it is of interest for many of the exotic animals on public show (including kangaroos and a platypus), the real significance of the work is the series of views by Adam that show the wider public touring the zoo and which provide an insight into the conditions at what had become, by this date, an important menagerie. Jules Rostaing (born 1824) was a well-known writer on all manner of natural history books, and this charming work is his study of the Jardin des Plantes at mid-nineteenth century.
A copy of this work in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France has been given a date of 1873, which would certainly accord with the style of the book and the known period that the publisher Ducrocq was in business.
Condition Report: Some ageing throughout
Price (AUD): $3,100.00
US$2,024.49 Other currencies