Atlas colorié des plantes médicinales, French book

Leafing through this atlas takes you back to botany as Paul Hariot presented it. Bibliomane reissues his book on medicinal plants: the drawings and French texts reflect the knowledge and popular uses of their time, not a contemporary healthcare guide.

Plates to examine closely

The 144 colour plates reproduce illustrations originally made using chromolithography. They show 364 plants; four black-and-white plates complete the volume. The author's explanations accompany this visual exploration, including historical information on flowering.

The book is for readers interested in old depictions of plants as well as lovers of natural-history editions. Pause over a plate, compare the drawn silhouettes, then return to the corresponding text.

A small hardback volume

This 11.5 × 17.5 cm edition has 394 pages. Its imitation cloth cover and red page edges follow the conventions of old natural-history books. One book, published by Bibliomane, ISBN 9782367430164. This is a French-language edition; the physical book is not translated.

Read as a historical document: the properties and uses described in this old work are not current medical advice. Its value is documentary and illustrative.