DUHAMEL DU MONCEAU (Henri-Louis). Traité des arbres et arbustes qui se cultivent en France en pleine terre. Paris, Guérin & Delatour, 1755. 2 volumes in-4, marbled calf (contemporary binding). First edition. The work is illustrated with 250 superb wood-engraved plates from Mattioli's famous herbarium published in Venice in 1583, plus an original copper-engraved iconography comprising 4 folding plates, 182 figures of flowers and seeds placed at the head of the chapters and an allegorical vignette by Nicolas Ozanne. "The definitive work on the subject in France at that time" (Johnston). In 1754, Duhamel du Monceau (1700-1782) was given the task of producing a complete Treatise on Woods and Forests, consisting of five independent works, each complete in its own right. The Traité des arbres et arbustes (Treatise on Trees and Shrubs) of 1755 was the first stone in this important edifice, established as a reasoned flora based on Tournefort's classification. It made its author "the creator of forest botany", according to Davy de Virville. Heads and one corner dulled; spine and corners rubbed. Pritzel, n°2469 - Nissen, n°547 - Plesch, 209 - Hunt, 552 - Johnston, n°439.