The author, Jean-Henri Jaume Saint-Hilaire,1772-1845, was born in Grasse in the south of France, an agriculturally rich region famous for its fruit trees and flowers. At an early age he served in the military but left it for a career in agriculture and the natural sciences. He wrote several illustrated volumes describing trees and plants of agricultural importance and discovered Polygonum tinctorium, a plant that produces an indigo blue dye.

The lengthy preface to the book was written by Andre Thouin, 1747-1824. Thouin was a distinguished French botanist and a pupil of Bernard de Jussieu. At age 17 he succeeded his father as chief gardener at the King's Garden in Paris (now the Jardin des Plantes) and enlarged it considerably. He became a member of the Academy of Sciences and of the Institut de France and professor and administrator of the Museum of Natural History in 1793. A street in Paris is named after him. His preface is dated August 18, 1824, barely two months before his death on October 27.

Thouin's introduction stresses the need for conservation and for the replacement of trees and woodlands to compensate for their destruction by the expanding population in France. It is a commentary on and a practical guide to planting and growing trees and shrubs. Though written in 1824, it seems remarkably contemporary in its concern for conservation and for the environment. It's notable that careful forest management already had begun in Europe long before it had in the United States.

Full Title:
Traite des arbrisseaux et des arbustes cultives en France et en pleine terre /par M. Jaume Saint-Hilaire.

By:
Jaume Saint-Hilaire, Jean Henri,1772-1845,

Publication info:
Paris : chez l'auteur, 1825.

Call Number:
QK313.J38 1825

Bibliographic Details:
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