The next morning, I was had by a friend to the garden of Monsieur Morine, who, from being an ordinary gardener, is become one of the most skillful and curious persons in France for his rare collection of shells, flowers, and insects.

Sketch of the garden of Pierre Morin in the faubourg St Germain by Richard Symonds. 1649. BL Harley Ms 1278 f.81v. Source: parksandgardensuk.wordpress.com

His garden is of an exact oval figure ((Evelyn was probably referencing this design when design his garden at Sayes Court – GS  Book:A Passion For Trees: The Legacy Of John Evelyn)), planted with cypress, cut flat and set as even as a wall: the tulips, anemones, ranunculuses, crocuses, etc., are held to be of the rarest, and draw all the admirers of that kind to his house during the season. He lived in a kind of hermitage at one side of his garden, where his collection of porcelain and coral, whereof one is carved into a large crucifix, is much esteemed. He has also books of prints, by Albert [Durer], Van Leyden, Callot, etc. His collection of all sorts of insects, especially of butterflies, is most curious; these he spreads and so medicates, that no corruption invading them, he keeps them in drawers, so placed as to represent a beautiful piece of tapestry.

“Forty-one insects.” by Wenceslaus Hollar. 1646

He showed me the remarks he had made on their propagation, which he promised to publish. Some of these, as also of his best flowers, he had caused to be painted in miniature by rare hands, and some in oil.

Example of Ranunculus byBasilius Bessler. 1620. Source: http://plantillustrations.org/illustration.php?id_illustration=138651