Amaryllis Divers [Hippeastra] 511: Flore des Serres et des Jardins de l'Europe

Ghent:: Louis Van Houtte,, 1845-1888.. First edition. Fine with original hand-coloring. A Fine original hand-finished color-printed lithograph (Folio: 9 7/8 x 13 3/8 Inches) elegantly double matted in Dark Brown Rag board with gold French line decoration sized to 18.5 x 22 inches and suitable for framing. Rich and luminous, this plate is printed from stone in multiple colors and then finished by hand at the printing studios amidst the van Houtte gardens; Horto Van Houtteano.To honor the burgeoning interest in horticulture throughout Europe during the nineteenth century several botanical periodicals were created to document and illustrate the beauty of new botanical discoveries worldwide. Flore des Serres et des Jardins de l'Europe, Ghent; Louis van Houtte,1845-1888 was among the finest horticultural journals produced at the time. As experienced botanical engravers, botanists and nurserymen in their own right the editors Louis van Houtte and Charles Lemaire combined their talents to produce this glorious publication which documented both the newly discovered exotics and the popular plants being cultivated in the Americas, Europe, Asia and beyond at the time. Charles Lemaire was an engraver for Pierre Joseph Redoute's masterful works Les Liliaces published in Paris; 1802-16 and Les Roses; both Folio and Octavo Editions, Paris;1817-24, 1835. Louis Van Houtte was proprietor of the most esteemed nursery on the continent during the mid-19th century; Establishment Louis Van Houtte. He commissioned an exclusive team of plant hunters to travel worldwide and gather previously unrecorded orchids and other exotics for cultivation and documentation which became the basis for this landmark series. (DeBelder, Sitwell, Plesch) Matted in Rag Board