Antique Print of Suillus and Agaricus mushrooms by Benárd (c.1800)

Description: Antique print titled 'Pl. 884 Cryptogamie, Champignons'. Old print showing suilles, a genus of basidiomycete fungi in the family Suillaceae and order Boletales. Below, a print of agaricus, a genus of mushrooms containing both edible and poisonous species, with possibly over 300 members worldwide. This print originates from 'Histoire Naturelle'. 

Artists and Engravers: The 'Histoire Naturelle' is an encyclopaedic collection of 36 large (quarto) volumes written between 1749–1804, initially by the Comte de Buffon, and continued in eight more volumes after his death by his colleagues, led by Bernard Germain de Lacépède. The books cover what was known of the "natural sciences" at the time, including what would now be called material science, physics, chemistry and technology as well as the natural history of animals.