Plate 19 - Stapelia Hirsuta Linn. L'Asclepias d'Affrique (cactus/succulent plant)

Pierre Joseph Buchoz (1731-1807) Les Dons Merveilleux et Diversement Colori©s de la Nature dans Le R¨gne V¨g¨tale Paris" 1779-1783 Hand-colored copperplate engravings Sheet size: 18 ½" x 11 " Pierre Joseph Buchoz (also spelled Buc'hoz) was a French lawyer, physician, botanist and naturalist and was very interested in the medicinal virtues of various plants. He was also a prolific author of botanical books in the latter half of the 18th century. Born in Metz (France), Buchoz was meant for a career in law, but soon turned to medicine, and was appointed as the physician to King Stanislaus of Poland when he was 28. Accused of not fulfilling his duties, Buchoz quit, and devoted his energies to the study of botany, medicine, economics and mineralogy, eventually publishing over 300 volumes on these subjects. Although he is held in low esteem by the scientific botanists, due to his persistence in re-using plates with different attributions, his decorative and artistic sense places him high in the ranks of eighteenth-century flower book authors.