The last authorized edition of the most famous manual on gardening and the cultivation of vegetables and fruits, first printed (posthumously) in 1690 and here finally for the Compagnie des Libraires Associés. Apart from many pirated editions, printed in Amsterdam (1692, 1697), Geneva (1695, etc.) and Paris (1715, 1716), authorized editions, following the imposing large 4to format, integral text and illustrations of the 1690 edition, were published in Paris in 1697, 1700, 1725, 1730, 1739, 1740 and the present 1756. This immensely popular and influential manual - translated into English by John Evelin (The compleat Gardner, 1693) and Italian, with adaptations in German and Portuguese - was a great European success and remained the symbol of the French classical arboriculture and horticulture throughout the 18th century. It contains detailed instructions for planting, pruning and espaliering fruit trees and cultivating vegetables, and was probably also the most influential book in the history of pomology.
With the armorial bookplate of Jacobs Florentius Demory on the verso of both title-pages. Bindings a little worn, especially around the spine, corners bumped, head of spine a bit damaged, tear in one of the folding plates, but otherwise in good condition. Pritzel 5075; Fanny Blanchard, Les éditions françaises et allochtones de lInstruction pour les jardins ... de J.B. de la Quintinie (thesis, Lyon 2015), pp. 55-60; cf. Hunt 388; Oak Spring Pomona 1; Eliz. B. Rogers, Landscape design (2001), pp. 178, 195.