Website/Catalog  (27 Jul 2011)  
 
Rosa ‘Latour d’Auvergne’
Gallica rose.  It was described in the Floricultural Cabinet in 1857 as a gallica rose with rich carmine flowers, sometimes inclined to purple, with a brilliant centre, large and fine.  [Rivers (1857, 1863), Paul (1863), FC p.227/1857].
  
Horticultural & Botanical History
This rose was exhibited at the first great National Rose show held in July 1858.  [Gard. Chron. 1858].
  
History at Camden Park
Included in a handwritten list of roses dated 1861, probably intended for a new edition of the catalogue that was never printed.  [MP A2943].  

Book  (Apr 1993)  Page(s) 296.  
 
La Tour d'Auvergne Gallica, deep rosy crimson, flecked carmine, 1842, Vibert. Description.

Book  (1936)  Page(s) 44.  
 
Auvergne, La Tour d' (Provins) Vibert 1842; carmine-pink, sometimes purple, shaded

Book  (1899)  Page(s) 95.  
 
La Tour d'Auvergne, Provins, 1842, rose
La Tour d'Auvergne, centifolia, Vibert

Magazine  (Sep 1878)  Page(s) 202.  
 
The French Rose (Rosa gallica) is indigenous to France and Italy, and was among the earliest that were introduced to British gardens, having been taken to England in 1596.  It contains a large number of varieties, many of which are hardy and vigorous.  The flowers are rich in colour, and mostly well formed.  The following selection includes some of the most desirable kinds:
Latour d'Auvergne — Flowers rich crimson, well-formed, and produced freely.

Book  (1878)  Page(s) 22.  
 
French Roses....The following are very beautiful, and can hold their own on the show-stands where they occasionally appear with the best:...La Tour d'Auvergne, bright rose...

Book  (1877)  Page(s) 23.  
 
The French Rose.
(Rosa gallica.)
Rosier de Provins.
Only a few of these roses are now worth retaining, remarkable for their fine shape and capability of being exhibited as 'show roses', i.e., as single blooms, in the manner of dahlias and other flowers. To describe them in as few words as possible, it will perhaps be the most eligible way to give their descriptions in groups thus:
For fine crimson roses we may take Boula de Nanteuil, D'Aguesseau, Gloire de Colmar, Grandissima, Kean, Latour d'Auvergne, Ohl, Schönbrunn, Triomphe de Jaussens; these are large, very double, and finely-shaped crimson roses, of slightly different shades.

Book  (1860)  Page(s) 120.  
 
Centifolia...Latour d'Auvergne, large, full, pink.

Magazine  (2 Dec 1858)  Page(s) 380.  
 
Besides the officinal semi-double Rosa officinalis, which is still cultivated in Provins and which is said to distinguish itself by a very agreeable fragrance, there are 3 other main groups [of Rosa gallica]:
a) Seraglio or Sultan Roses (Rosa Maheka)....[see].
b) Velvet Roses (Rosa holosericea) ...[see]
c) Bishop roses have almost completely disappeared from gardens and distinguish themselves from the prior two in that they are darker towards the edges but lighter in the center. Famous were once König von Persien [Roi de Perse] and Purpurmantel [Manteau pourpre]. We haven't seen any appreciables in latest times, if we do not want to include Latour d'Auvergne, Meyerbeer, Pierre Janssens and Triomphe des écarlates herein.

Book  (1858)  Page(s) 144.  
 
Rosa centifolia .... La Latour d'Auvergne, large, full, pink.