Serapias and Elleborine, Pl. 728 — Encyclopédie Méthodique

A plate of European orchids — Serapias and Epipactis (here under the old name Elleborine) — whose complex floral structures fascinated Enlightenment-era botanists.

After J. E. de Sève; engraved by Robert Bénard. Botanique, Plate 728, from the Encyclopédie Méthodique. Published in Paris, c. 1808.

The Encyclopédie Méthodique expanded upon Diderot and d'Alembert's original Encyclopédie, reorganising knowledge into subject-specific dictionaries with thousands of newly commissioned plates. The botanical plates were published over several decades, with later volumes such as this one appearing well into the nineteenth century under the editorship of Jean-Louis-Marie Poiret.

Copperplate engraving on laid paper, approximately 29.7 × 21.6 cm. Very Good.