Pierre-Joseph Redout (1759-1840) was forever in high demand. Official court draftsman to Queen Marie Antoinette (who purportedly summoned him at midnight to paint a cactus), and later a favorite of Jos phine Bonaparte, the artist brought flowers to the highest of places, and offset the chaotic upheaval of the French Revolution with the delicacy of perfectly drawn petals.

This reprint brings together 144 examples of Redout 's flower, branch, and fruit drawings. Originally published between 1827 and 1833, these precise yet tender illustrations are as delightful as they are informative, recording some of the most delicate plant specimens in the world and evoking the bygone magnificence of Parisian greenhouses and gardens.