REDOUTÉ - THE BOOK OF FLOWERS - 40TH ED.

Flower painter Pierre-Joseph Redouté (1759-1840) devoted himself exclusively to capturing the diversity of flowering plants in watercolor paintings which were then published as copper engravings, with careful botanical descriptions. The darling of wealthy Parisian patrons including Napoleon s wife Josephine, he was dubbed "the Raphael of flowers," and is regarded to this day as a master of botanical illustration.