$615
de la Quintinie, Jean-Baptiste (1626-1688) Instruction Pour Les Jardins Fruitiers et Potagers. Paris: Barbin, 1690. First edition, two large quarto volumes, lacking the portrait in volume one; engraved head and tail pieces and vignettes throughout; two folding engravings in volume one, including a detailed plan of the Potager du Roi; eleven full page engravings in volume two, depicting pruning techniques and tools, bound in contemporary boards in need of repair, contents somewhat toned and brittle, 10 x 7 1/4 in. (2) De la Quintinie created the Potager du Roi for Louis XIV at Versailles, and this work is dedicated to that garden. A twenty-five acre "kitchen garden" still in existence today, in de la Quintinie's day, it was organized into twenty-nine separate spaces growing everything necessary for the King's table, including strawberries, asparagus, cucumbers, artichokes, plums, apricots, cherries, figs, melons, fifty varieties of pear, twenty varieties of apple, sixteen different kinds of lettuces, and more.
Auctioneer:
Skinner
Date:
2015-05-27