Royal permission granted on 6 July 1626 enabled the establishment of a botanical space in Paris designed to cultivate specimens for medical application. Guy de La Brosse, a French physician and botanist born in Rouen, spearheaded this project to supply practitioners with botanical resources independent of the existing site created by Henri IV in 1593.
Foundation of the Jardin du Roi
La Brosse encountered significant opposition from the Faculty of Medicine in Paris, which perceived his proposed garden as a threat to their institutional interests. The physician intended to integrate instruction in botany and chemistry at the location. While creation of the garden occurred earlier, official inauguration did not happen until 1640. To appease the university, the king limited the garden to a single teacher without a diploma, chosen by the site supervisor.
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Throughout his career, La Brosse published several works documenting his research. In 1623, he released a treatise concerning the plague. He later authored the 1628 publication Dessin du Jardin Royal pour la culture des plantes médicinales, which was reissued with woodcuts in 1640. This text catalogued cultivated species and detailed their medicinal properties. Additional works include De la nature, vertu, et utilité des plantes, the 1631 Avis pour le Jardin royal des plantes, and L'ouverture du Jardin royal de Paris.
The Lost Copper Plates
La Brosse planned an extensive collection featuring four hundred copper plates produced by Abraham Bosse. His death in 1641 precluded the completion of this project. Following his passing, his heirs sold the plates to a boiler-maker based on the value of the metal. Later supervisors, including Guy-Crescent Fagon, attempted to recover these assets, but only fifty were located. Sébastien Vaillant and Antoine de Jussieu eventually provided 24 additional specimens.
Fast facts
- Born: 1586, Rouen
- Died: 1641, Paris
- Nationality: French
- Occupation: Physician, botanist, pharmacist
- Royal Role: Physician to Louis XIII
- Notable Achievement: Created the Jardin du Roi
Questions readers ask
What is the Jardin du Roi known as today?
It is now known as the Jardin des Plantes.
Did Guy de La Brosse complete his planned collection of four hundred copper plates?
No, his death prevented him from finishing the project, and most of the plates were sold by his heirs.
