Basilius Besler. Florilegium. The Book of Plants

Name: TASCHEN: Basilius Besler. Florilegium. The Book of Plants
SKU: Basilius Besler. Florilegium. The Book of Plants
Price: 25.00 EUR
Availability: InStock

The illustrations are organised by seasons.

25.00 €

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A magnificent pictorial document of the flowers grown in the greatest German garden of its time.

First published in 1613, the 367 copperplate engravings by Basilius Besler (1561-1629) capture the spectacular diversity of the palatial gardens of Prince-Bishop Johann Konrad von Gemmingen (1593/95-1612) in Eichstätt, Bavaria, Germany. The meticulous illustrations are organized according to the four seasons, and, following the classification system used today, show plants belonging to a total of 90 families and covering 340 genera. The whole collection is regarded as one of the finest treasures of botanical literature; it was described by Carl Linnaeus, the legendary 18th-century botanist and zoologist, as an "incomparable work".

Besler's pictorial catalogue long outlived the gardens, which were destroyed in 1634 by invading Swedish troops. In auction, the asking price for a first-edition copy of Hortus Eystettensis is now more than half a million dollars. With this edition, TASCHEN opens up the garden to a much wider audience: a rich and beautiful record, destined to keep the garden's beauty in bloom.