[2], 7, [1] pp., 7 bis, 8-10, 10 bis, 11-15 leaves, 16-18, [1], pp., 18 bis, 19-33, 33 bis leaves, 34-36, [1] p., 37-43 leaves, 44-46, [1] p., 46 bis, 47-53 leaves. for a total of 22 pp. of text & 41 leaves on which are mounted pressed specimens of trees and shrubs. (folio) 36x23.5 cm (14¼x9¼"), original full red morocco, gilt borders with fleurs-de-lis in corners, gilt spine with additional fleurs-de-lis, blue marbled end papers.
A rare and remarkable gathering of actual specimens of trees and shrubs from the forests of France, each one mounted with green thread to recto with printed Latin botanical and French colloquial names, each specimen leaf bound between two sheets of blue paper. In this copy, the specimens have been protected by thin plastic sheets which are neatly taped to the mounting sheets. Sandra Raphael, Oak Spring Sylva, p.22, describes the work: "The trees and shrubs are divided into four groups: main forest trees (oaks, beech, ash, chestnuts, birches, hornbeam, elm); secondary ones (poplars, limes, alder, willows, acacia (that is, robinia), sycamore, field maple, sevice trees, horse chestnut, wild apple and cherry, walnut); main forest shrubs (hazel, hawthorn, dogwood, cornel, wild medlar, blackthorn or sloe, privet); and secondary ones (black alder, purging buckthorn, wayfaring tree, spindle tree, barberry, briar rose, holly, box)." OCLC/WorldCat lists only one copy, at the Huntington Library.