Basilius Besler (1561-1629). Icones sive: Repraesentatio viva, florum et herbarum . [Nuremberg: 1627]. Median 2° (446 x 294mm). Engraved title by Johann Leypold, one leaf letterpress tribute to the Medical College of Nuremberg and dedication to its members past and present, engraved portrait of Besler and his arms with letterpress verses by Georg Rem, engraved plate of a floral bouquet by Georg Gärtner dedicated to Joachim Ernst, Markgraf of Brandenburg, dated 1612, and 22 engraved plates from the Hortus Eystettensis , sheets folded and on guards. The leaf with Besler's portrait and arms is slightly smaller and has evidence on its verso of having been tipped in elsewhere previously. (Faint dampstain at extreme lower margin in 11 plates, resulting in small nicks in 4 plates, neat tear at fold in 4 plates.) Contemporary vellum, flat spine, missing 4 ties (lightly soiled). Provenance : Georg Torra ('Ex libris Georgii Torraei insulensis Belgae, M.D. Nemetum Archiatri', title inscription) -- [unidentified label on verso of last leaf] -- Kenneth K. Mckenzie (1934 bequest to:) -- Horticultural Society of New York (bookplate) -- Robert de Belder (sale Sotheby's, 27 April 1987, lot 26). ONE OF ONLY TWO RECORDED COPIES NOW KNOWN. The Icones is principally a collection of various plates from the Hortus Eystettensis issued with a title-page consisting of Leypold's seasonal title from the Hortus with the title section of the copper-plate cut-out and replaced, the portrait of Besler, and a newly printed leaf dedicating the work to the members (both past and present) of the Nuremberg Medical College as a token of Besler's gratitude. Barker has convincingly argued that the Icones was issued by Besler to thank those whose aid in preparing the Hortus Eystettensis he had failed to acknowledge in 1613. Among the members of the medical college listed in Besler's dedication are Joachim Camerarius, who had advised Bishop Johann Conrad on the garden before Besler, and Ludwig Jungermann, who appears to have played a large role in preparing the text, at least at an early stage, and whose disgruntlement with Besler is documented in a letter of 1614 to Caspar Hoffmann, another member of the medical college named in the Icones . Among the plates included in the Icones is the very fine, rare engraving by Georg Gärtner of a vase of flowers for the Markgraf of Ansbach, which is found in a few copies of the Hortus . The plate here is in the state with the 1612 dedication to the Markgraf. Hainhofer sent a copy of the engraving to his patron in August 1612, calling it a tour de force of Gärtner's skill (Barker, p.15). The only other copy of the Icones known is at Darmstadt and consists of 93 plates; a third copy, formerly part of Christoph Jacob Trew's collection at Erlangen University Library, has been missing since at least 1961. Cf. Barker, Hortus Eystettensis , pp.18-19; Nissen 158.
Basilius Besler (1561-1629). Icones sive: Repraesentatio viva, florum et herbarum . [Nuremberg: 1627]. Median 2° (446 x 294mm). Engraved title by Johann Leypold, one leaf letterpress tribute to the Medical College of Nuremberg and dedication to its members past and present, engraved portrait of Besler and his arms with letterpress verses by Georg Rem, engraved plate of a floral bouquet by Georg Gärtner dedicated to Joachim Ernst, Markgraf of Brandenburg, dated 1612, and 22 engraved plates from the Hortus Eystettensis , sheets folded and on guards. The leaf with Besler's portrait and arms is slightly smaller and has evidence on its verso of having been tipped in elsewhere previously. (Faint dampstain at extreme lower margin in 11 plates, resulting in small nicks in 4 plates, neat tear at fold in 4 plates.) Contemporary vellum, flat spine, missing 4 ties (lightly soiled). Provenance : Georg Torra ('Ex libris Georgii Torraei insulensis Belgae, M.D. Nemetum Archiatri', title inscription) -- [unidentified label on verso of last leaf] -- Kenneth K. Mckenzie (1934 bequest to:) -- Horticultural Society of New York (bookplate) -- Robert de Belder (sale Sotheby's, 27 April 1987, lot 26). ONE OF ONLY TWO RECORDED COPIES NOW KNOWN. The Icones is principally a collection of various plates from the Hortus Eystettensis issued with a title-page consisting of Leypold's seasonal title from the Hortus with the title section of the copper-plate cut-out and replaced, the portrait of Besler, and a newly printed leaf dedicating the work to the members (both past and present) of the Nuremberg Medical College as a token of Besler's gratitude. Barker has convincingly argued that the Icones was issued by Besler to thank those whose aid in preparing the Hortus Eystettensis he had failed to acknowledge in 1613. Among the members of the medical college listed in Besler's dedication are Joachim Camerarius, who had advised Bishop Johann Conrad on the garden before Besler, and Ludwig Jungermann, who appears to have played a large role in preparing the text, at least at an early stage, and whose disgruntlement with Besler is documented in a letter of 1614 to Caspar Hoffmann, another member of the medical college named in the Icones . Among the plates included in the Icones is the very fine, rare engraving by Georg Gärtner of a vase of flowers for the Markgraf of Ansbach, which is found in a few copies of the Hortus . The plate here is in the state with the 1612 dedication to the Markgraf. Hainhofer sent a copy of the engraving to his patron in August 1612, calling it a tour de force of Gärtner's skill (Barker, p.15). The only other copy of the Icones known is at Darmstadt and consists of 93 plates; a third copy, formerly part of Christoph Jacob Trew's collection at Erlangen University Library, has been missing since at least 1961. Cf. Barker, Hortus Eystettensis , pp.18-19; Nissen 158.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
