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Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon
Picris (Sunflower); Helmintia (Bristly Oxtongue) /// Botanical Botany Plants Art

1749-1789

About the Item

Artist: Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (French, 1707-1788) Title: "Picris (Sunflower); Helmintia (Bristly Oxtongue)" (Syngenesie; Polygamie, Plate 648) Portfolio: Histoire Naturelle Year: 1749-1789 Medium: Original Hand-Colored Engraving on laid paper Limited edition: Unknown Printer: Imprimerie Nationale, Paris, France Publisher: Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, Paris, France Framing: Not framed, but beautifully double matted with hand decorated archival French matting Matted size: 18.13" x 15.5" Image size: 9.13" x 6.5" Condition: Two small foxmarks upper right. One tiny puncture to paper center left. It is otherwise in very good condition Rare Notes: Engraved by French artist Robert Benard (1734-1777) after a painting by French artist Jacques de Sève (fl. 1742-1788). Comes from Buffon's famous publication "Histoire Naturelle", 1749-1789, an encyclopedic collection of 36 large (quarto) volumes of Natural History. Picris (oxtongues) is a genus in the sunflower family described as a genus by Linnaeus in 1753. Picris species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, such as the grass moth Diasemia reticularis. Schinia cardui feeds exclusively on P. hieracioides. The genus is widespread across Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. Helminthotheca echioides, known as bristly (or prickly) oxtongue, is a stiff annual or biennial herb native to Europe and North Africa. It was traditionally used as an antihelminthic treatment. Biography: Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (French: 7 September 1707 – 16 April 1788) was a French naturalist, mathematician, cosmologist, and encyclopédiste. His works influenced the next two generations of naturalists, including two prominent French scientists Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and Georges Cuvier. Buffon published thirty-six quarto volumes of his "Histoire Naturelle" during his lifetime, with additional volumes based on his notes and further research being published in the two decades following his death. Ernst Mayr wrote that "Truly, Buffon was the father of all thought in natural history in the second half of the 18th century". Buffon held the position of intendant (director) at the Jardin du Roi, now called the Jardin des Plantes.
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