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52 ORIGINAL WATERCOLOUR DRAWINGS OF ORCHIDS
CAMUS, Edmond Gustave. Orchidées de France.
[Paris], 1895. Imperial 4to (32 x 26.5 cm). Atlas-volume with calligraphed title-page, 52 fine watercolour drawings on 51 leaves showing orchid varieties, finished with arabic gum, and 1 leaf with photo of the author pasted in. Burgundy half morocco binding, marbled sides and endleaves.
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Beautiful work with 52 watercolour drawings of the orchids of France on 51 leaves. These original drawings are most likely part of a continuing project to write a comprehensive study on the complicated taxonomy of the orchids in this region. The orchids are drawn on smaller sheets, measuring c. 24.5 x 15.5 cm, that have been pasted onto larger leaves of 32 x 26.5 cm. The latter are mounted on stubs and bound in into the present volume. There are 51 leaves, numbered I-XXIX, XXIXbis, XXX-L in the upper right corner, whereas leaf XLII has two varieties. Camus wrote the name of the variety and that of the botanist who first described this particular orchid in block letters underneath the drawing. Drawings XXIV and XXXVII have been signed by him, "E.G. Camus," the others are unsigned. Because of the small sheets on which the orchids have been drawn, sixteen varieties have been depicted in a lower and an upper half.
Edmond Gustave Camus (1852-1915), a pharmacist and botanist, was fascinated by the intricate taxonomy of the genus of the orchid. He lived close to l'Isle-Adam, the habitat of numerous orchids, and set out to collect the different varieties. In 1891 he published twelve sets with the first fruits of his research in Iconographie des Orchidées des environs de Paris , each of which contained forty meticulously drawn and hand-coloured drawings of orchids, "j'ai entrepris l'oeuvre laborieuse de former douze exemplaires de l'Iconographie en dessinant et peignant douze fois les quarante plances (de grandeur naturelle) qui la composent" (Bulletin de la Société Botanique de France , vol. 7 (1885).
In 1891 Camus began to publish his Monographie des Orchidées de France , which was to appear in a series of articles in the Journal de Botanique . The first article appeared in Journal de Botanique 5 (1891), pp. 429-434, and the final article was published in the same magazine in 1893 (see Willing 473 for a complete list of these articles). The text of these articles was published separately in 1894, consisting of a text-volume with 130 pages of text, and an atlas-volume with 52 photographic plates (there was now a XLII and a XLIIbis) , partially hand-coloured. Both volumes measure 25 cm in height and were published in an edition of 38 copies only (see Junk, Nissen). In the Monographie des Orchidées de France , which we consulted in the version of the journal articles, Camus dicusses a total of 155 numbered varieties of orchids, and for 52 varieties, he refers to illustrations in an accompanying Atlas . The names of these varieties agree exactly with the orchids depicted in our atlas-volume.
The present 52 watercolour drawings are not listed in any of the bibliographies, not even in the bibliography of the publications by E.G. Camus, prepared by Henri Lecomte and Camus's daughter Aimée Antoinette in E.G. Camus, Iconographie des Orchidées d'Europe (Paris 1921-1929; Stafleu & Cowan 971).
These drawings testify to Camus's outstanding craftmanship both as a botanist and artist and to his love for orchids. Their charm cannot fail to captivate anyone who browses through the atlas. The splendid drawings are in excellent condition.
