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細節
BASILIUS BESLER (1561-1629).
Hortus Eystettensis, sive diligens et accurata omnium plantarum, florum, stirpium, et variis orbis terrae partibus, singulari studio collectarum, quae in celeberrimis viridariis Archem Episcopalem ibidem cingentibus, hoc tempore conspiciuntur, delineato et ad vivum repraesentio. [Nuremberg]: 1613. Broadsheet (540 x 430mm). Engraved title, engraved portrait of Besler with his coat-of-arms, 4 engraved sectional titles and 366 engraved plates of flowers and plants by Johann Leypolt, Wolfgang Kilian, Servatius Raven, Levin van Hulsen, Dominicus Custos, Robert Custos, Heinrich Ulrich, Friedrich van Hulsen, Peter Isselburgh, and others, on 367 leaves, most with Linnean nomenclature added in ink in an 18th-century hand, c.129 with pale hand-colouring from the third quarter of the 17th century. Dedication to Bishop Johann Conrad. The paper largeley unwatermarked, the letterpress text printed on versos of the plates. (Title lightly soiled, torn and neatly repaired, two plates torn in half and neatly repaired, first sheet of Martagon Imperiale Moschatum plate torn and repaired, the second remargined, a few other marginal tears, most neatly repaired, occasional light worming.) Late 17th-century sheep, covers panelled in blind, spine gilt in 8 compartments with raised bands, vellum lettering-piece in the third (lettering-piece torn and repaired, neat repairs to extremities). Provenance: annotations and 2pp.-manuscript index in an unidentified hand; Bibliotheca Honkeniana (bookplate); Arnim Neuensundschen Bibliothek (bookplate).
FIRST EDITION OF THE MOST CELEBRATED FLORILEGIUM EVER PUBLISHED. The Hortus Eystettensis is a magnificent pictorial record of the flowers grown in the greatest German garden of its time, that of Prince Bishop of Eichstätt, Johann Conrad von Gemmingen. 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, and is, in its turn, a marvel itself.
The book is exceptional in every sense: in its variety and range of flower, in its size, in its fine quality of engraving. It is also one of the earliest records of flowers from a specific, documented garden. Printing the Hortus was a monumental undertaking and may have begun as early as 1607. Drawings were made in situ and from specimens sent by the Bishop to Nuremberg; the Bishop reported to Hainhofer that he had boxes of fresh flowers sent every week to Besler at Nuremberg for sketching. Two issues of the work were planned from an early stage: one coloured with the letterpress text printed on separate sheets, and one uncoloured with the letterpress text printed on the verso of the plates. A team of at least 10 engravers, chief among whom was Wolfgang Kilian, was employed to translate the drawings to copperplates, and the edition was printed in at least 300 copies.
The present copy is one of several (at Munich, Speyer, and Erlangen) partially coloured. Its colouring is, however, more complete than any of these, with approximatley 129 plates coloured in whole or part. The colouring was very likely carried out towards the end of the 17th century, contemporaneous with its binding in the third quarter of the century, but, interestingly, clearly still followed the 'tradition' of coloured copies which began in 1613 and was later preserved through written instructions for colourists.
Printing the Hortus was a monumental undertaking and may have begun as early as 1607. Drawings were made in situ and from specimens sent by the Bishop to Nuremberg; the Bishop reported to Hainhofer that he had boxes of fresh flowers sent every week to Besler at Nuremberg for sketching. Two issues of the work were planned from an early stage: one coloured with the letterpress text printed on separate sheets, and one uncoloured with the letterpress text printed on the verso of the plates. A team of at least 10 engravers, chief among whom was Wolfgang Kilian, was employed to translate the drawings to copperplates, and the edition was printed in at least 300 copies.
The present copy is one of several (at Munich, Speyer, and Erlangen) partially coloured. Its colouring is, however, more complete than any of these, with approximatley 129 plates coloured in whole or part. The colouring was very likely carried out towards the end of the 17th century, contemporaneous with its binding in the third quarter of the century, but, interestingly, clearly still followed the 'tradition' of coloured copies which began in 1613 and was later preserved through written instructions for colourists.
RIt is a curious fact that, although the book was reported to be almost sold out within five years of publication, copies were still available, as here, much later in the century. 'Late' copies include those at Vienna, Munich, Brussels, and Leiden. The copy offered here generally resembles the latter two; like them it has some dark impressions of the plates, perhaps pulled later to make up a complete set.
The present copy represents an interesting phase in the history of the colouring of the work. The colouring, though partial, is consistent throughout. It may have been intended to be pale, or the colourist, having built up a watercolour base, may have intended to lay on further colouring. It comes at a time when the old tradition of using opaque gouache paints was yielding to the new transparent 'watercolour' style, of which it may thus be an early example. The present copy shares one unique 'reading' (top left flower on pl. 97 in red) with the Leiden copy, but not the Leiden error of yellow for pl. 113, iii. It has one unique reading itself on pl. 136, where both millefoliums are magenta (one is elsewhere white).
The work is arranged by the seasons of the year, starting with spring. Within each season the plants are grouped by 'classes' generally starting with fruit and vegetables. The gardens, along with most of the town of Eichstätt, were destroyed by the invading Swedish troops under Herzog Bernhard von Weimar in 1633-4, although they were partially restored by later bishops. Many of the original drawings survive in the University Library, Erlangen. The printing plates (they were used for reissues of the work in about 1640 and again in 1713) survived until 1817 when they were melted down by the Royal Mint in Munich.
Christie's are grateful to Nicolas Barker for his observations on the colouring of this copy.
A CLEAN AND UNSOPHISTICATED COPY. N. Barker, Hortus Eystettensis, the Bishop's Garden and Besler's Magnificent Book (London: 1994), this copy new to the census appended there; Nissen BBI 158; Pritzel 745; Stafleu & Cowan 497.
Hortus Eystettensis, sive diligens et accurata omnium plantarum, florum, stirpium, et variis orbis terrae partibus, singulari studio collectarum, quae in celeberrimis viridariis Archem Episcopalem ibidem cingentibus, hoc tempore conspiciuntur, delineato et ad vivum repraesentio. [Nuremberg]: 1613. Broadsheet (540 x 430mm). Engraved title, engraved portrait of Besler with his coat-of-arms, 4 engraved sectional titles and 366 engraved plates of flowers and plants by Johann Leypolt, Wolfgang Kilian, Servatius Raven, Levin van Hulsen, Dominicus Custos, Robert Custos, Heinrich Ulrich, Friedrich van Hulsen, Peter Isselburgh, and others, on 367 leaves, most with Linnean nomenclature added in ink in an 18th-century hand, c.129 with pale hand-colouring from the third quarter of the 17th century. Dedication to Bishop Johann Conrad. The paper largeley unwatermarked, the letterpress text printed on versos of the plates. (Title lightly soiled, torn and neatly repaired, two plates torn in half and neatly repaired, first sheet of Martagon Imperiale Moschatum plate torn and repaired, the second remargined, a few other marginal tears, most neatly repaired, occasional light worming.) Late 17th-century sheep, covers panelled in blind, spine gilt in 8 compartments with raised bands, vellum lettering-piece in the third (lettering-piece torn and repaired, neat repairs to extremities). Provenance: annotations and 2pp.-manuscript index in an unidentified hand; Bibliotheca Honkeniana (bookplate); Arnim Neuensundschen Bibliothek (bookplate).
FIRST EDITION OF THE MOST CELEBRATED FLORILEGIUM EVER PUBLISHED. The Hortus Eystettensis is a magnificent pictorial record of the flowers grown in the greatest German garden of its time, that of Prince Bishop of Eichstätt, Johann Conrad von Gemmingen. 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, and is, in its turn, a marvel itself.
The book is exceptional in every sense: in its variety and range of flower, in its size, in its fine quality of engraving. It is also one of the earliest records of flowers from a specific, documented garden. Printing the Hortus was a monumental undertaking and may have begun as early as 1607. Drawings were made in situ and from specimens sent by the Bishop to Nuremberg; the Bishop reported to Hainhofer that he had boxes of fresh flowers sent every week to Besler at Nuremberg for sketching. Two issues of the work were planned from an early stage: one coloured with the letterpress text printed on separate sheets, and one uncoloured with the letterpress text printed on the verso of the plates. A team of at least 10 engravers, chief among whom was Wolfgang Kilian, was employed to translate the drawings to copperplates, and the edition was printed in at least 300 copies.
The present copy is one of several (at Munich, Speyer, and Erlangen) partially coloured. Its colouring is, however, more complete than any of these, with approximatley 129 plates coloured in whole or part. The colouring was very likely carried out towards the end of the 17th century, contemporaneous with its binding in the third quarter of the century, but, interestingly, clearly still followed the 'tradition' of coloured copies which began in 1613 and was later preserved through written instructions for colourists.
Printing the Hortus was a monumental undertaking and may have begun as early as 1607. Drawings were made in situ and from specimens sent by the Bishop to Nuremberg; the Bishop reported to Hainhofer that he had boxes of fresh flowers sent every week to Besler at Nuremberg for sketching. Two issues of the work were planned from an early stage: one coloured with the letterpress text printed on separate sheets, and one uncoloured with the letterpress text printed on the verso of the plates. A team of at least 10 engravers, chief among whom was Wolfgang Kilian, was employed to translate the drawings to copperplates, and the edition was printed in at least 300 copies.
The present copy is one of several (at Munich, Speyer, and Erlangen) partially coloured. Its colouring is, however, more complete than any of these, with approximatley 129 plates coloured in whole or part. The colouring was very likely carried out towards the end of the 17th century, contemporaneous with its binding in the third quarter of the century, but, interestingly, clearly still followed the 'tradition' of coloured copies which began in 1613 and was later preserved through written instructions for colourists.
RIt is a curious fact that, although the book was reported to be almost sold out within five years of publication, copies were still available, as here, much later in the century. 'Late' copies include those at Vienna, Munich, Brussels, and Leiden. The copy offered here generally resembles the latter two; like them it has some dark impressions of the plates, perhaps pulled later to make up a complete set.
The present copy represents an interesting phase in the history of the colouring of the work. The colouring, though partial, is consistent throughout. It may have been intended to be pale, or the colourist, having built up a watercolour base, may have intended to lay on further colouring. It comes at a time when the old tradition of using opaque gouache paints was yielding to the new transparent 'watercolour' style, of which it may thus be an early example. The present copy shares one unique 'reading' (top left flower on pl. 97 in red) with the Leiden copy, but not the Leiden error of yellow for pl. 113, iii. It has one unique reading itself on pl. 136, where both millefoliums are magenta (one is elsewhere white).
The work is arranged by the seasons of the year, starting with spring. Within each season the plants are grouped by 'classes' generally starting with fruit and vegetables. The gardens, along with most of the town of Eichstätt, were destroyed by the invading Swedish troops under Herzog Bernhard von Weimar in 1633-4, although they were partially restored by later bishops. Many of the original drawings survive in the University Library, Erlangen. The printing plates (they were used for reissues of the work in about 1640 and again in 1713) survived until 1817 when they were melted down by the Royal Mint in Munich.
Christie's are grateful to Nicolas Barker for his observations on the colouring of this copy.
A CLEAN AND UNSOPHISTICATED COPY. N. Barker, Hortus Eystettensis, the Bishop's Garden and Besler's Magnificent Book (London: 1994), this copy new to the census appended there; Nissen BBI 158; Pritzel 745; Stafleu & Cowan 497.