Theobroma (Cacao Tree) — Encyclopédie Méthodique

A hand-coloured engraving from the Botanique section of the monumental French Encyclopédie Méthodique, one of the great scientific publishing enterprises of the eighteenth century.

J.E. de Seve. Published in Paris, 1790.

The Encyclopédie Méthodique expanded upon Diderot and d’Alembert’s original Encyclopédie, commissioning fresh illustrations from leading natural-history draughtsmen. The botanical plates are prized for their scientific precision and delicate hand-colouring, which was applied to each sheet individually at the time of publication.

Hand-coloured copperplate engraving. Sheet size approximately 29.0 × 21.5 cm. Excellent.