[LESLIBOUDOIS, Thémistocle Gaspard]. - Lot 73

[LESLIBOUDOIS, Thémistocle Gaspard]. Botany for Ladies, or An Easy Method for Learning About Plants Without a Teacher. Paris, Delarue; Lille, Castiaux, (ca. 1821). 3 volumes in-16 (13.7 x 9 cm), 197 pp., including a portrait; 192 pp., including a portrait, plus 35 pp. and 35 plates (excluding the portrait of Linnaeus, Carl von Linné). Paperback, green paper cover printed by the publisher, in a slipcase engraved by the publisher featuring line-engraved portraits of Jussieu and Tournefort (minor, insignificant flaws on the covers; spine of the plate volume weakened; slipcase discolored; slight foxing). A charming little volume, illustrated with 35 finely engraved black-and-white botanical plates, as well as portraits of botanists. Attributed to Thémistocle Gaspard Lesliboudois (1797–1876), the work was published anonymously, with the notation “by a professor of botany” on the title page. Sometimes attributed to Pierre Boitard. Dedicated to the Countess of Murat. Provenance: a handwritten bookplate dated 1932 on the slipcase and a discreet dry stamp on the covers [Etablissement Combes], a locksmith’s shop in Paris in the early 20th century.