Basilius Besler (1561-1629). Hortus Eystettensis . [Nuremberg and Eichstätt: Strauss,] 1713-[1750]. Royal broadsheet (545 x 412mm). One-leaf letterpress address to the reader by Johann Starckmann, 14 index leaves giving plant names in Latin and German, dispersed at the end of each seasonal section (2; 8; 3; 1), descriptive text printed on the verso of each plate, signature correction slip on D12 and D23. Engraved allegorical title by Wolfgang Kilian altered to dedicate the work to Johann Anton I Knebel von Katzenellenbogen, and 367/8 engraved plates by Kilian, Dominicus and Raphael Custos Georg Gärtner Johann Leypold, Levin and Friedrick van Hulsen, Peter Isselburg Servatius Raeven, Heinrich Ulrich and possibly other, after Daniel Herzog, Georg Gärtner and others. (Neat tear in one plate, several plates just shaved at fore-edge, light ink spotting on one plate.) Contemporary German blindtooled pigskin over bevelled wooden boards, title lettered on spine, two fore-edge clasps, blue marbled edges (some light soiling, few negligible wormholes at spine, one catch broken). Provenance : Grafen von Walderdorff, in whose family this copy has been since its publication (see below). A VERY FINE COPY OF THE THIRD EDITION OF THE CELEBRATED HORTUS EYSTETTENSIS , whose publication was undertaken by the Bishop of Eichstätt, Johann Anton I Knebel von Katzenellenbogen (Bp. 1705-1725) to commemorate the centenary of its first appearance in print. It was initially intended to enlarge the work to include flowers from around the world and Europe, and Johann Michael Hertel, professor of medicine and botany at the University of Ingolstadt (c.1650-1740) prepared drawings and sent them to the Prince Bishop. Although a title-page dated 1712 was prepared announcing the additional flowers, the project was dropped, and the title-page was revised yet again merely to dedicate it to Johann Anton I with the date 1713. Two of the original plates were missing, however, and the entire project ground to a halt until taken up by Johann George Starckmann (Sthenander), an Eichstätt physician. The missing plates were found, the text was reprinted with minimal revision, Starckmann composed an address to the reader outlining the history of the work and praising both Johann Anton I and his successor as Prince Bishop, Johann Anton II von Freyberg (1736-57), and the work was finally issued about 1750. Christoph Jakob Trew, an active supporter of the project, obtained his copy of the edition in 1752. THE PRESENT COPY HAS (UNUSUALLY) REMAINED IN THE HANDS OF ITS ORIGINAL OWNERS -- THE VON WALDERDORFF FAMILY, UNTIL TODAY. Although the family's greatest patron of the arts was Johann Philipp von Walderdorff, Archbishop of Trier and Bishop of Worms, it is most likely that this copy of the Hortus Eystettensis entered the family through Franz Philipp Graf von Walderdorff (1740-1828), second son of Lothar Wilhelm, Herr zu Molsberg and Isenburg. Through Franz Philipp's wife, Maria Mauritia Freiin von Freyberg-Eisenberg-Hopferau (1770-1840), the von Walderdorffs were directly related to Johann Anton II von Freyberg, who was Bishop of Eichstätt when the delayed 1713 edition of the Hortus was finally published. Many copies of the Hortus Eystettensis were in the gift of the Bishop of Eichstätt, and it is therefore tempting to see this copy as a gift from him to his noble kinsman, Graf von Walderdorff. Perhaps owing to this close connection to Eichstätt through the Freybergs, Franz Philipp's brother, Friedrich Christoph Wilderich Nepomuk (1744-1818), was appointed Kapitular at Eichstätt in 1776 and Geheimer Rat there in 1793. (Friedhelm Jürgensmeier, ed. Die von Walderdorff , Cologne: 1998, esp. pp. 178-3,467). Cf. Hortus Eystettensis: zur Geschichte eines Gartens und einer Buches , München, 1989, pp.106-112, 131-4; N. Barker, Hortus Eystettensis, The Bishop's Garden and Besler's Magnificent Book (1995), p.21. Hunt 430; Nissen 159; Pritzel 745.
Basilius Besler (1561-1629). Hortus Eystettensis . [Nuremberg and Eichstätt: Strauss,] 1713-[1750]. Royal broadsheet (545 x 412mm). One-leaf letterpress address to the reader by Johann Starckmann, 14 index leaves giving plant names in Latin and German, dispersed at the end of each seasonal section (2; 8; 3; 1), descriptive text printed on the verso of each plate, signature correction slip on D12 and D23. Engraved allegorical title by Wolfgang Kilian altered to dedicate the work to Johann Anton I Knebel von Katzenellenbogen, and 367/8 engraved plates by Kilian, Dominicus and Raphael Custos Georg Gärtner Johann Leypold, Levin and Friedrick van Hulsen, Peter Isselburg Servatius Raeven, Heinrich Ulrich and possibly other, after Daniel Herzog, Georg Gärtner and others. (Neat tear in one plate, several plates just shaved at fore-edge, light ink spotting on one plate.) Contemporary German blindtooled pigskin over bevelled wooden boards, title lettered on spine, two fore-edge clasps, blue marbled edges (some light soiling, few negligible wormholes at spine, one catch broken). Provenance : Grafen von Walderdorff, in whose family this copy has been since its publication (see below). A VERY FINE COPY OF THE THIRD EDITION OF THE CELEBRATED HORTUS EYSTETTENSIS , whose publication was undertaken by the Bishop of Eichstätt, Johann Anton I Knebel von Katzenellenbogen (Bp. 1705-1725) to commemorate the centenary of its first appearance in print. It was initially intended to enlarge the work to include flowers from around the world and Europe, and Johann Michael Hertel, professor of medicine and botany at the University of Ingolstadt (c.1650-1740) prepared drawings and sent them to the Prince Bishop. Although a title-page dated 1712 was prepared announcing the additional flowers, the project was dropped, and the title-page was revised yet again merely to dedicate it to Johann Anton I with the date 1713. Two of the original plates were missing, however, and the entire project ground to a halt until taken up by Johann George Starckmann (Sthenander), an Eichstätt physician. The missing plates were found, the text was reprinted with minimal revision, Starckmann composed an address to the reader outlining the history of the work and praising both Johann Anton I and his successor as Prince Bishop, Johann Anton II von Freyberg (1736-57), and the work was finally issued about 1750. Christoph Jakob Trew, an active supporter of the project, obtained his copy of the edition in 1752. THE PRESENT COPY HAS (UNUSUALLY) REMAINED IN THE HANDS OF ITS ORIGINAL OWNERS -- THE VON WALDERDORFF FAMILY, UNTIL TODAY. Although the family's greatest patron of the arts was Johann Philipp von Walderdorff, Archbishop of Trier and Bishop of Worms, it is most likely that this copy of the Hortus Eystettensis entered the family through Franz Philipp Graf von Walderdorff (1740-1828), second son of Lothar Wilhelm, Herr zu Molsberg and Isenburg. Through Franz Philipp's wife, Maria Mauritia Freiin von Freyberg-Eisenberg-Hopferau (1770-1840), the von Walderdorffs were directly related to Johann Anton II von Freyberg, who was Bishop of Eichstätt when the delayed 1713 edition of the Hortus was finally published. Many copies of the Hortus Eystettensis were in the gift of the Bishop of Eichstätt, and it is therefore tempting to see this copy as a gift from him to his noble kinsman, Graf von Walderdorff. Perhaps owing to this close connection to Eichstätt through the Freybergs, Franz Philipp's brother, Friedrich Christoph Wilderich Nepomuk (1744-1818), was appointed Kapitular at Eichstätt in 1776 and Geheimer Rat there in 1793. (Friedhelm Jürgensmeier, ed. Die von Walderdorff , Cologne: 1998, esp. pp. 178-3,467). Cf. Hortus Eystettensis: zur Geschichte eines Gartens und einer Buches , München, 1989, pp.106-112, 131-4; N. Barker, Hortus Eystettensis, The Bishop's Garden and Besler's Magnificent Book (1995), p.21. Hunt 430; Nissen 159; Pritzel 745.
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