Flore des Antilles
by François Richard de TUSSAC (1751-1837)
Auction on December 3, 2025
Tajan’s upcoming sale of books and manuscripts on December 3rd brings together three of the most eminent specialists in the flora of the Caribbean. These are the scientific works of Charles Plumier (1646-1704), François Richard de Tussac (1786-1827), and Michel Etienne Descourtilz (1777-1839), whose research revealed the botanical richness of these islands (medicinal plants, spices, exotic fruits, precious woods, etc.).
We will be particularly pleased to present the rare original edition of the first major color flora dedicated to the French Caribbean, published by François Richard de Tussac between 1808 and 1827. It is illustrated with 140 color-engraved plates, hand-enhanced, showcasing with great precision the main plant species of the French Caribbean. It was an ambitious and costly project, of which only 150 copies were printed.
The known copies to date are often incomplete or in poor condition. The copy presented for sale is complete with all 140 plates and is beautifully bound in a modern pastiche binding.
€30,000/40,000
François Richard de Tussac
TUSSAC (François Richard de). Flore des Antilles, ou Histoire générale botanique, rurale et économique des végétaux indigènes des Antilles. Paris, chez l’auteur, F. Schoell and d’Hautel, 1808-1818-1824-1827. 4 volumes, folio size, in modern red half-morocco binding with long grain, decorated.
A botanist from Poitou, François Richard de Tussac (1786-1827) settled in Martinique in 1786, then took charge of a botanical garden in Haiti. After a study trip to Jamaica, he returned to France, where he served as the director of the Jardin des Plantes in Angers from 1816 to 1826. He undertook this vast encyclopedic project at the request of the French government to catalogue, classify, and highlight the agricultural and economic wealth of the Caribbean. Each explanatory text details the botanical features, geographic origin, and economic or medicinal uses of the plant.
It is illustrated with 140 color-engraved plates, hand-enhanced. Directly inspired by the herbarium collected by Tussac in the Caribbean, or based on the models of the most renowned naturalist artists of the time – primarily Turpin, with contributions from Poiteau – they were engraved by various artists.
Each plate illustrates with great precision the main plant species of the French Caribbean: fruit trees (cacao tree, banana plant, coffee plant, coconut tree), medicinal, ornamental, and industrial plants. Published over nearly twenty years, the project was costly and ambitious; it remained unfinished and covered only a portion of the species recorded by Tussac. Luxurious in nature, this edition was printed in only 150 copies, according to Brunet.
A good copy, in a charming pastiche binding
It comes from the library of the Martinican landscaper Jean-Philippe Thoze (1941-2017), who created the famous ‘Jardin de Balata’ in 1982 on the heights of Fort-de-France, one of the most visited sites in Martinique. The copies held in institutions are often incomplete, with single volumes or missing plates. Depending on the copy, the number of plates varies from 137 to 140; this one contains plate 25bis in volume I, and plate 1bis in volume III.
Copies can be found with the title pages and half-title pages in Latin (either alone or in addition to the French title pages and half-title pages); these copies were likely intended for international scientific institutions (academies, libraries), while copies like ours, with the French title pages and half-title pages, were aimed at a colonial audience, including administrators, doctors, agronomists, and amateur botanists…
VIEW BOOKS, MANUSCRIPTS & PRINTS AUCTION
Auction on December 3, 2025
Tajan, 37 rue des Mathurins, 75008 Paris
CONTACTS
Katia Besnier
P/O Alexia Taiclet, Books, Manuscripts & Prints Director
+33 1 53 30 30 84 – [email protected]
Ségolène Beauchamp, expert
+33 6 64 67 12 60 – [email protected]
Ariane de Miramon, Press, Communication & Marketing Director
+33 1 53 30 30 68 – [email protected]