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London Published as the Act directs Dec.r 1, 1795
Image 183 x 117 mm, Sheet 207 x 125 mm
mounted
From An Universal System of Natural History of The
Tribe Simia; Or Animals Resembling Man by Ebenezer
Sibly. [26279]
£35
Flora
From An Universal System of Natural History of The
Tribe Simia; Or Animals Resembling Man by Ebenezer
Sibly. [26280]
£35
Basilius Besler (1561 – 1629) was a respected
Nuremberg apothecary and botanist, best known for his
monumental Hortus Eystettensis. He was curator of the
garden of Johann Konrad von Gemmingen, prince
bishop of Eichstätt in Bavaria. The bishop
commissioned Besler to compile a codex of the plants
growing in his garden, a task which Besler took sixteen
years to complete, Johann Konrad dying shortly before
the work was published.
Where as previous botanical art had placed an emphasis
only on medical or culinary herbs, often crudely
executed, Besler’s Hortus Eystettensis depicted 1084
species including garden flowers, herbs and vegetables
and exotic plants such as castor-oil and arum lilies.
These were modern in concept and produced near life
size in great detail.
The work generally reflected the four seasons, showing
first the flowering and then the fruiting stages. "Winter"
was sparsely represented with a mere 7 plates. "Spring"
was a season of abundance with 134 plates illustrating
454 plants and "Summer" in full swing showed 505
plants on 184 plates. "Autumn" closed off the work with
42 plates and 98 species.
118. The Ring-tailed Maucauco
Copper engraving with original hand colouring
J.Pass after Johann Jacob Ihle
First published in 1613, two versions were produced,
cheap black and white for use as a reference book, and a
luxury version without text, printed on quality paper and
lavishly hand-coloured. The work was published twice
more in Nuremberg in 1640 and 1713. The plates were
eventually destroyed by the Royal Mint of Munich in
1817.