GOETHE, Johann Wolfgang von (1749-1832). Versuch die Metamorphose der Pflanzen zu erklären. Gotha: Wilhelm Ettinger, 1790. 8 o (191 x 123 mm). (Some staining at beginning and end.) Remboîtage binding of early boards. FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE, with Goethe's name printed above the title on title-page. Although not the first written, the Versuch was Goethe's first published testimony of his scientific interests. In it he attempted to explain the unity of type in different plant species by arguing that all plants derive from a mysterious "archetypal plant", or " Urpflanze ", individual genera being modifications of this ideal type" Goethe thought that the biologist, by comparing a large number of plant and animal forms, can obtain a clear idea of the underlying principles... What Goethe sought in biology and zoology was nothing less than a theory that would explain all living forms" (DSB). Goethe's fundamentally Aristotelian concept of an ideal type had a considerable influence on the later development of botany. Hagen 211; Norman 913; Osler 2767; Pritzel 3452; Sparrow Milestones of Science 86.
GOETHE, Johann Wolfgang von (1749-1832). Versuch die Metamorphose der Pflanzen zu erklären. Gotha: Wilhelm Ettinger, 1790. 8 o (191 x 123 mm). (Some staining at beginning and end.) Remboîtage binding of early boards. FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE, with Goethe's name printed above the title on title-page. Although not the first written, the Versuch was Goethe's first published testimony of his scientific interests. In it he attempted to explain the unity of type in different plant species by arguing that all plants derive from a mysterious "archetypal plant", or " Urpflanze ", individual genera being modifications of this ideal type" Goethe thought that the biologist, by comparing a large number of plant and animal forms, can obtain a clear idea of the underlying principles... What Goethe sought in biology and zoology was nothing less than a theory that would explain all living forms" (DSB). Goethe's fundamentally Aristotelian concept of an ideal type had a considerable influence on the later development of botany. Hagen 211; Norman 913; Osler 2767; Pritzel 3452; Sparrow Milestones of Science 86.
.jpg?w=400 "Source: Christie's")
.jpg?w=400 "Source: Christie's")
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