1837, Roques, Nouveau traité des plantes usuelles, 4 vols.

Condition : good, slightly rubbed, corners slightly bumped, foxing, vol. 1 and 4 some annotations in red colour, vol. 2 traces of moisture to the last 200 pages. Overall a good copy.
Volumes : 4 volumes.
Binding : contemporary half leather, spines gilt.
Format : In-8.
Pages : 2 ff, 574 pp; 2 ff, 560 pp and 2 ff, 599 pp.
Publisher : Paris, P. Dufart.
Date : 1837 - 1838.
References : Vicaire, Bibliographie gastronomique 750; Pritzel, Thesaurus literaturae botanicae 7760.

Born in Valence in the Tarn, Joseph Roques (1772 - 1850) studied at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Montpellier. He was first a military doctor in several hospitals in the South of France from 1794 to 1798; he then went to Paris where he devoted himself to the study of botany, the publication of his works on the subject was a success, earning him wide recognition and the cross of Knight of the Legion of Honour. He died in Montpellier in May 1850.
More than a simple enumeration of plants useful in medicine, Joseph Roques gives here an excellent treatise on food plants and gastronomy. For each plant, he gives a complete botanical description, the interest of its use in medicine and also numerous recipes for cooking (cabbage soup, garbure des Pyrénées, partridge with cabbage, stuffed tomatoes à la Grimod, etc.).