[Fritillary or Guinea-hen flower] Frittillaria; [Fragrantr jonquil] Narcissus Juncifolius præcox maior; [Garden narcissus] Pseudo Narcissus luteus de BESLER, Basil (1561-1629) - 1713

Nuremberg: Basil Besler, 1613. Excellent. Notes: Basil Besler's great botanical work, "Hortus Eystettensis .." is one the most impportant botanical books ever published.The author, Basilius Besler (1562-1629), was a Nuremberg apothecary and botanist.The work commemorated the celebrated gardens of its patron, Johann Konrad von Gemmingen, Prince Bishop of Eichstatt. 'The Book is horticultural rather than botanical, and is the earliest pictoral record of flowers in a single garden. It is divided into Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter sections and is concerned almost entirely with ornamental plants.The plates depict over 1000 flowers representing 667 species, many of them exotics appearing for the first time. The original drawings (most of them now in the University Library, Erlangen) took sixteen years to complete. With Bishops patronage Besler worked as an artist, autor and publisher directing a team of ten artists and engravers. The most important being Wolfgang Kilian of Ausburg. The work was… Leer más

Nuremberg, 1713. . 1 copper engraved plate with hand-colouring, framed and glazed, 63.5 x 55.5 cm. (25 x 21 7/8 in) inclusive. A magnificent plate from 'Hortus Eystettensis', one of the earliest and most famous works in the field. The Hortus Eystettensis is a pictorial record of the flowers grown in the greatest German garden of its time, that of Prince Bishop of Eichstatt, Johann Conrad von Gemmingen. The garden was begun by Joachim Camerarius in 1596 and, after his death in 1598, completed by Basil Besler, a pharmacist from Nuremberg. A visitor, Philipp Hainhofer, in 1611 marvelled at the eight gardens, each containing 'flowers from a different country; they varied in the beds and flowers, especially in the beautiful roses, lilies, tulips. The Hortus records this variety and beauty. The book is exceptional in every sense; in its variety and range of flowers, in its size, in its fine quality of engraving. It is also one of the earliest records of flowers from a specific, documented garden.Besler… Leer más