[Botany - Antilles]. Descourtilz, Michel-Etienne. Flore pittoresque et médicale des Antilles. Paris, Picard et al., 1821-29. In 8° (210 x 125 mm). 596 plates engraved by Louis or George Gabriel, Jacques Pirie, R. Bessin, and Prieur from drawings by Théodore Descourtilz, printed in color and finished by hand (4 plates missing in second volume, rather browned in some volumes mostly in text, 5 plates with adjacent text in eighth volume touched by woodworm hole, page 118 in seventh volume restored). Coeval binding in red half-morocco with friezes and title in gold on spine (two plates detached, restorations to hinges and spines). Bibliographic card from Rambaldi antiquarian bookstore. First edition. Trained as a surgeon, Descourtilz moved to Haiti in 1798, focusing on the medicinal properties of the local flora. The work became a truly celebratory survey of the natural beauty of the tropics. (8)