The Book of Flowers by Donzel, Catherine
The Book of Flowers (Premium Collectible Hardcover Edition)
A Cultural and Visual History of Floral Decoration, Language, and Symbolism through the Ages
A Cultural and Visual History of Floral Decoration, Language, and Symbolism through the Ages
Bibliographic Specifications
- Title: The Book of Flowers
- Author: Catherine Donzel
- Publisher: Flammarion, Paris / New York
- Publication Date: 1998
- ISBN-10: 2080136554
- ISBN-13: 9782080136558
- Edition Details: First English Edition / First Printing. A beautifully archived art and cultural history text under the prestigious French imprint Flammarion.
- Binding: Original publisher's premium full-cloth boards, structurally firm with crisp title stamping along the spine face.
- Physical Format: Large Quarto (4to), 176 pages. Magnificently illustrated with archival fine art reproductions, historical documents, and specially commissioned high-fidelity studio photography.
- Language: English (Translated from the original French).
Official Condition Report
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The Book: Very Good Plus (VG+)
- Exterior Boards: The original full-cloth hardboards are exceptionally straight, solid, flat, and square. The spine face is completely unbroken, firm, and uncreased, indicating superb preservation. Only microscopic, negligible storage shelf-friction is visible along the extreme corner tips, completely consistent with pristine domestic archiving. The volume is protected inside a premium cellophane cover sleeve.
- Interior: The structural text block binding and heavy page signatures are remarkably tight, square, and firm. Internal leaves and thousands of high-fidelity color plates are crisp, clean, bright white, and fully intact. Completely free of contemporary owner signatures, modern text highlighting, user marginalia, dog-ears, or dealer pencil notations.
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The Dust Jacket: Very Good Plus (VG+)
- Condition & Integrity: The original illustrated graphic dust jacket is present, retaining its sharp visual clarity and deep coloration without any sun-fading, edge chips, or paper loss. It exhibits only very limited, minor signs of vintage shelf wear along the extreme upper edges, now completely stabilized and beautifully preserved behind the premium archival cellophane sleeve wrapper.
Synopsis & Historical Value
First released in 1998 by the world-renowned French art publisher Flammarion, Catherine Donzel's The Book of Flowers stands as an unassailable cultural classic that traces the evolutionary story of the cut-flower bouquet. Moving far beyond basic botanical classifications, this elegant volume uncovers how simple floral arrangements have operated as seductive creations and symbolic messengers across Western history—from the grand public rituals of the Roman Empire to the secretive, highly codified floral cryptography of the Victorian era.
To piece together this multi-disciplinary study, Donzel undertook extensive international archival research, unearthing rare fine art paintings, vintage manuscripts, and historical texts that illuminate the meaning behind lilies, tulips, and roses. She pairs this historical lens with modern field research, interviewing master florists and elite flower importers across Europe and the United States to deliver a unique insight into the modern flower trade. Documenting how floral decoration is rapidly ascending to the high-status tier of haute couture design, this meticulously preserved, cellophane-wrapped volume is an indispensable masterpiece for art historians, master florists, and antiquarian book collectors alike.
Author Profile: Catherine Donzel
Catherine Donzel is an elite French cultural historian, photojournalist, and prolific lifestyle author celebrated globally for her visually stunning monographs on European social traditions and luxury heritage. Specializing in the historical evolution of art, travel, and the decorative arts, her major publications include The Book of Perfume and Grand Hotels: The Golden Age of Palace Hotels. Donzel is highly regarded by curators and designers for her ability to fuse rigorous, deep archival academic research with breathtaking artistic layout design, making her collaborative Flammarion volumes timeless investment pieces for private reference libraries worldwide.
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