Beschreibung:

Crispin van de Pass Hortus Floridus in quo rariorum & minus vulgarium florum Icones ad vivum veramque accuratissime delineatae... A Garden of Flowers, wherein very lively is contained a true and perfect discription of all the flowers contained in these foure followinge bookes... Faithfully and truely translated out of the Netherlandish originall into English. Utrecht: Salomon de Roy for Crispian de Passe, 1614-1615. 5 parts in one volume, small oblong 2° (297 x 190mm). 2 engraved titles, 2 engraved garden views, 1 allegorical plate, 164 engraved plates. (2 plates ['Autumnus' 24 and 'Hiems' 7] inlaid to size, 1 plate cut down and mounted ['Hiems' 12], these and three other plates supplied from another copy, two inner margins strengthened, a number of tears repaired, mostly marginal but occasionally affecting text or plates.) Contemporary limp vellum (worn). Provenance : Watts (early 19th century inscription on leaf numbered '56': 'Watts Esq Gardener to his Majesty'); Robert de Belder (sale, Sotheby's 28 April 1987 lot 271 sold £8250). THE DE BELDER COPY OF THIS RARE ENGLISH TEXT ISSUE OF THE FIRST EDITION OF ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS AND INFLUENTIAL OF THE EARLY FLORILEGIA. The plates are arranged according to the seasons with an additional final part and depict primarily tuberous or bulbous plants. Most are by de Pass, although he was assisted by his brothers. There is great discrepancy between copies in the number of plates, but the present copy is made up as follows: I. [ Ver ]: Engraved title with integral circular portrait roundels of Dodoens and Clusius [Utrecht, apud Ioannem Ianssonium, 1614], as in Hunt; title in English [Utrecht, Saloman de Roy for Crispian de Passe, 1615], with an acrostic poem on the verso by Thomas Wood, followed by five leaves, dedication and description of plates 1-41 [signed [A]-C 2 ]; engraved garden plan; 43 engraved plates, versos blank, plates unnumbered and without added backgrounds or insects (i.e. corresponding with Savage's criteria for the first state). II. [ Aestas ]: Engraved plate 'Epigramma' depicting Flora embracing a cornucopia of flowers; two leaves of English text (description of plates 1-20) [signed D 2 ]; engraved garden plan; 20 engraved plates, verso blank, plates unnumbered and without added backgrounds or inscets. III. [ Autumnus ]: Three leaves English text (description of plates 1-25) [signed E 2 F1]; 27 engraved plates, all but two with verso blank, plates unnumbered, some with added insects and backgrounds (plate numbered 'd12' misbound here, should be in section IV). IV. [ Hiems ]: 1 engraved plate; two leaves english text (descriptions of plates 1-12) [signed F2 G1]; 12 engraved plates, all but the last with verso blank, the majority with backgrounds and insects. V. [ Altera pars ]: letterpress sectional title with 'ad lectorum' on verso, engraved additional title [Formulis Crispiani Passaei et Joannis Waldnelii]; 61 engraved plates with letterpress descriptions on versos of all but two plates, backgrounds to 17 plates and insects on 11; one leaf English text (epilogue in verse) [signed G2]. Nissen BBI 1494; cf. Hunt 199; Savage 'The Hortus Floridus' ( Transactions of the Bibliographical Society , second series IV, pp.181-205).