"Aguilegia stellata flore albo minutissumus nigris punctis ornato"

Basil Besler is credited with producing the earliest great florilegium entitled Hortus Eystettensis.  His work was the earliest pictorial record of flowers from a single garden. In the early 17th century the Prince Bishop of Eichstatt, Germany created a splendid garden, the first to contain all the shrubs and flowering plants known at the time.  New plants were arriving from Mexico and the New World and for the first time we see engravings detailing the full range of exotic flowers and glorious new fruits such as corn, tomatoes and sunflowers.  When the garden was completed the Prince Bishop commissioned a monumental picture book of all of his plants.  This large work consisted of 367 copper engraved plates and was first issued in 1613.  Besler"s engravings can be called "modern" in their appeal.   Large and almost square, somewhat stylized in depiction, they transcend anything that came before.  Today the individual plates are prized for their size, scarcity and bold execution.

Hand-colored copperplate engravings with modern color                   22 x 17 1/2 inches sheet.  Crisp and clean engraving in excellent condition.