White Hellebore, Heleborus Albus
18 by 21 inches
BES63 $575
Basilius Besler was the botanist apothecary who produce this superb work, the Hortus Eystettensis, published in Eichstatt, Germany in 1613 under the patronage of the Prince Bishop of Eichstatt. It was from the prince's remarkable botanical garden that many of the illustrations came. This stunning garden was a lavish and costly creation containing many exotic imports from far flung parts, including American and Asia.
Besler worked on the drawings for almost sixteen years, supervising a team of at least six engravers. The work depicts over 1,000 flowers on 374 copper engraved plates, representing 667 species. The prince spent thee thousand florins for the work and sadly, was to die the year before publication, though he had seen most of the plates. His successor had little interest in horticulture and his garden soon fell into neglect.
Only a few copies were hand colored at the time of printing. Each is printed on the fine thick hand made paper of the time. The plate marks are strong and the coloring fine old coloring. There is little foxing & the condition is superb for the age of the plates. There is slight bleed through of the text from the verso, as is typical with this publication. It is not pronounced due to the thickness of the paper.
