Les liliacées (1805-1816) is a monumental work by Pierre-Joseph Redouté, arguably the greatest flower painter of all time. Its botanical subjects are represented with both aesthetic delicacy and scientific accuracy. The work was originally issued in 80 livraisons (486 examples, each in 2 states) in a haphazard arrangement that does not regard affinities of liliales classification. 40 copies were projected but only 18 were published. Each flower plate comprises 2 stipple engravings, the right printed in colors and reworked by Redouté, the duplicated left as shades of gray on tan paper.
Citation/reference: For a discussion of variations of the large paper edition, cf. Madol's bibliography, no. 36, in Redouté's Album de Redouté, Collins, 1954. And cf. also Stafleu, Taxonomic literature, 2nd ed., no. 8747.
Statement of responsibility: Among the engravers are Allais, Bessin, Chailly, de Gouy, Langlois, Lemercier, Mixelle jeune. Plates 370-371 in v. 7 are a double leaf of the amaryllis de Joséphine in color; plate 372 is the uncolored bulb and root system of the amaryllis. In addition, plate 427 is repeated in numbering with corrections in manuscript (by Redoutée?). A total of 974 flower plates plus a frontispiece portrait of Redouté, engraved by C. Pradier (1811) after Gérard. The plates are accompanied by pages of text (some numbered to agree with plates): v. 1-4 by A.P. de Candolle; v. 5-7 by F. de Laroche; v. 8 by A. Raffeneau-Delile.
Statement of responsibility: The plates are accompanied by pages of text (some numbered to agree with plates): v. 1-4 by A.P. de Candolle; v. 5-7 by F. de Laroche; v. 8 by A. Raffeneau-Delile.
