Besler's Hortus Eystettensis - Two Volumes with 366 Botanical Engravings

Artist or Author: Basil Besler

Work: Hortus Eystettensis

Date of Publication: 1613

Style: Two Volumes with 366 engraved plates

Paper Size: ~ 23 3/4" by 18 1/2"

Condition: The work is in good to excellent condition overall. The work may have some occasional discoloration the folds. There may be a few minor imperfections to be expected with age. Several plates have been professionally repaired and cleaned. Please review the image carefully for condition and contact us with any questions.

Description of the work: This rare two volume set is Basil Besler's Hortus Eystettensis. It was published in 1613 in Eichstatt.

Contained within the two volumes are 366 engraved plates, which includes 1 double-page, an engraved title, 4 subtitles, and a portrait with a coat of arms. They are rebound in calf with later endpapers, with gilt floral tools to the spine compartments and corners. The engraving was printed on superior chain-linked, watermarked paper.

A set like this is exceedingly uncommon, as it is a complete first edition of this work, with only five copies appearing in recent auction records, at Sotheby's in 1984, 2000, and 2004, and Christie's in 2008 and 2022.

Bishop-prince Johann Konrad von Gemmingen created a magnificent garden to praise God and celebrate the diversity of creation. In the early 1600s, the bishop-prince commissioned Basilius Besler to create a catalogue of his garden and thus Hortus Eystettensis was produced.

Besler’s work, which depicted over 1100 specimens, is still widely considered one of the best botanical works ever created. Most of the plants depicted were drawn at their actual size. The first edition of the work was printed in 1613 and consisted of only about 300 copies. Hortus Eystettensis is truly a masterpiece and one of the most comprehensive and alluring botanical works ever produced. In the preface to an 1806 edition, Franz Seraph Widmann said “...by reason of...the magnificence of its engravings, [this work] deserves to rank high among the rarest works of its kind."