Pear

This stunning fruit engraving is from Henri Louis Duhamel du Monceau’s Traité des arbres fruitiers […] Nouvelle édition, augmentée d’un grand nombre d’espèces de fruits obtenus des progrès de la culture, par A. Poiteau et P.J.F. Turpin. The work was published in Paris and Strasbourg between 1808 and 1835 by Levrault.

The work was first published in 1768, but it would be more accurate to view this new edition as its own independent work with the illustrations from Poiteau and Turpin. The work is considered “one of the finest and rares books on fruit, with many beautiful plates.” (Dunthorne) Duhamel authored the work as a practical manual to cultivate and increase consumption of fruit. The work described and illustrated almonds, peaches, nectarines, grapes, many kinds of berries, pears, and apples.

The engravings were completed by Victor, Bouquet, Gabriel, Giraud, and others. They were printed by Langlois. Each engraving was printed in color with original hand-finishing. The engravings were completed after orignal illustrations by Antoine Poiteau & Pierre-Jean-Francois Turpin. Antoine Poiteau was a pupil of Pierre Joseph-Redoute and was trained as a botanist. Pierre-Jean-François Turpin was a self-taught artist that published a number of his own works.