Floral Journal — L’Illustration Horticole 1870 Tagetes Erecta & Œillets de Verviers Carnation

Carry the most luminous chromolithographs of the golden age of French horticultural publishing—where L’Illustration Horticole captured the saturated oranges of the Tagetes and the crimson-to-cream range of the Verviers carnation with a brilliance that no other printing technique of the 19th century could match.

This hardcover journal celebrates two masterworks from L’Illustration Horticole, one of the most celebrated botanical and horticultural journals of the 19th century, published in France and Belgium between approximately 1870 and 1890. The plates are chromolithographs—a technique that allowed the extraordinary color saturation visible in these illustrations, from the blazing oranges and yellows of the marigold to the deep carmines, wines, and cream whites of the Verviers carnation. Both plates have been placed by LeBonJournal on a warm brown background with an orange frame, giving these extraordinary chromolithographs the warmth and presence of a museum display.

Front Cover — Tagetes (Marigold, c. 1870–1890): A chromolithograph of exceptional vibrancy presenting varieties of Tagetes erecta—the large pompom-headed African marigold—and Tagetes patula (figure 4), the French marigold with its characteristic bicolor striped petals. The lower section includes scientific cross-sections of the florets, combining artistic beauty with botanical precision in the manner that made L’Illustration Horticole the reference publication for horticulturalists across Europe.

Back Cover — Œillets de Verviers (Carnations of Verviers, c. 1870–1890): A chromolithograph of Dianthus caryophyllus varieties celebrating the horticultural tradition of Verviers, a city in Belgium renowned for its carnation breeding. The plate presents an astonishing range of color: from cream white through rose pink to deep carmine and intense wine red, with the bicolor striped varieties most prized in European horticulture of the period. The artistic style is identical to the Tagetes plate, ensuring perfect visual coherence across the full-wrap cover.

Why This Journal Inspires:

• Two chromolithograph plates from L’Illustration Horticole (c. 1870–1890)—the most celebrated horticultural journal of 19th-century France and Belgium, combining scientific precision with extraordinary artistic beauty
• Chromolithography at its finest: the saturated oranges of the Tagetes and the crimson-to-cream range of the Verviers carnation rendered with a brilliance impossible to achieve with any other printing technique of the era
• The Œillets de Verviers celebrate the Belgian city renowned for its carnation breeding tradition—a tribute to the golden age of European horticulture
• Both plates on a warm brown background with orange frame by LeBonJournal, giving these chromolithographs the warmth of a museum botanical display

Product Details:

• Format: Hardcover journal with matte laminated full-wrap cover
• Pages: 150 lined pages (75 sheets) with perforations for easy removal
• Binding: Casewrap sewn binding that lays flat and flexes for comfortable writing
• Dimensions: 5.5 × 8.5 inches, lightweight and portable
• Weight: 0.1 kg
• Cover: L’Illustration Horticole 1870 chromolithographs on brown background with orange frame, matte finish; small 0.5"x0.5" production barcode on back

Perfect For:

• Flower lovers, gardeners, and horticulturalists celebrating the chromolithograph tradition of L’Illustration Horticole and the golden age of French and Belgian botanical publishing
• Marigold and carnation enthusiasts drawn to the most vivid botanical illustrations of the 19th century
• Collectors of chromolithography, vintage botanical prints, and the French horticultural publishing tradition
• Admirers of Dianthus caryophyllus and the Verviers carnation breeding tradition—a celebration of European horticultural heritage
• Writers and journalers who want their notebook to feel as warm and luminous as a summer garden in full bloom
• Gift seekers looking for a richly beautiful, historically resonant journal for flower lovers and botanical art enthusiasts

Carry the legacy of L’Illustration Horticole—where the blazing Tagetes and the wine-red carnations of Verviers remind us that the golden age of botanical publishing was also the golden age of the garden, when every flower was worth illustrating and every illustration was worth keeping.

EU representative: HONSON VENTURES LIMITED, gpsr@honsonventures.com, 3, Gnaftis House flat 102, Limassol, Mesa Geitonia, 4003, CY

Product information: Generic brand, 2 year warranty in EU and Northern Ireland as per Directive 1999/44/EC

Care instructions: Use a soft, clean and dry cloth to gently brush any dust or dirt off from the center of book outwards.