Beschreibung:

BRY, Johann Theodor de (1561-1623). Florilegium novum, hoc est: variorum maximeque rariorum florum ac plantarum singularium un cum suis radicibus & cepis . Oppenheim: J.T. de Bry '1612' [c. 1614]. 2° (314 x 204mm). Etched title depicting formal garden within architectural frame and 87 etched plates, 1-78 numbered, 9 unnumbered including 2 double-page, all by and after de Bry. Woodcut headbands and initials. (Occasional spotting and light browning, a few plates with short tears crossing platemarks, light dampstaining on )(1-4 and some plates.) Contemporary vellum, titled in manuscript on the spine (some staining and marking, covers bowed, lacking ties, block split). Provenance : Gustav Theisgrun (inscription on flyleaf, recording gift to his son Ernest, Limbourg, 16 June 1886) -- Collectie Verwoordt (booklabel on front free endpaper). SECOND [?AND FIRST PUBLISHED] EDITION OF DE BRY'S FINELY-ILLUSTRATED FLORILEGIUM , WITH A FULL COMPLEMENT OF PLATES. The plates that illustrate the Florilegium are taken from a variety of sources, including Pierre Vallet's Le Jardin du Roy (Paris, 1608), Basilius Besler's Hortus Eystettensis (Eichstatt and Nuremberg, 1613) and Crispian van de Pass's Hortus floridus (Utrecht and Arnheim, 1614-1616)). However, de Bry's plates are not just copies, as Oak Spring Flora comments: 'The unsurpassed mastery for which de Bry was known throughout Europe emerges clearly in the plates of this florilegium. Each has been carefully composed, and the confident lines of the engraving, with their fine shading, denote the hand of a true master'. According to Hunt only three copies are known of the earliest edition, which is dated 1611 on the title and was possibly a trial issue. This was followed by an edition dated 1612 on the title, known in a variety of forms with differing numbers of plates, some with later dates. In addition to the engraved title and 3 preliminary text leaves )(2-4, the present copy contains 87 plates: all but one of the 9 unnumbered plates bear traces of erased numbers ('85', '86', '82', '80', '84', '83', '77', and '76'). Two of the unnumbered plates are dated 1613 and another is dated 1614, indicating that this copy was published not earlier than the latter year. BM(NH) I, p. 270 (calling for 85 plates); Johnston Cleveland , 158 (calling for 85 plates); Hunt 197 (calling for 87 plates); Nissen BBI 272 (calling for 85/86 plates); Oak Spring Flora 10; Pritzel 1,299 (calling for 87 plates).