Botanical Beauty.
The entire Horus Eystettensis by Basilius Besler, published in 1613.
Superb illustrated document devoted to the flowers cultivated in the most prestigious German garden of its time, the Hortus Eystettensis is, by the variety of its flower engravings, unique in its kind.
First published times in 1613, the 367 copperplates by Basilius Besler (1561-1629) immortalize the spectacular diversity of the Bavarian palace gardens of Prince-Bishop Johann Konrad von Gemmingen (1593 / 95-1612) in Eichstätt, Bavarian Germany. The meticulous illustrations are organized according to the four seasons, and, following today's classification system, show plants belonging to 90 different families and spanning 340 genera. This collection is considered one of the finest treasures of botanical literature; Carl von Linné, the illustrious 18th-century botanist and zoologist, called it an “incomparable work.”
Besler's illustrated catalog has survived the gardens, which were destroyed in 1634 during the invasion of the Swedish troops. Today, a copy of the first edition of the Hortus Eystettensis is worth no less than half a million dollars at auction. With this edition, TASCHEN is opening this garden to a much wider audience. This marvelous work, of infinite richness, allows the beauty of this flowering garden to be preserved forever.