Anleitung zu der Pflanzenkenntniss und derselben nützlichen Anwendung. Mit hundert illuminirten Talfen
Zurich: [Orphans of Zurich], 1774. First edition.
Folio (14 15/16” x 9 ¼”, 380mm x 236mm): A2 B–Gg2 Hh2(–Hh2) Ii–Kk2 [$2 signed; –G1, Kk2]. 65 leaves, pp. 1–4 5–129 [1] (blank). With an engraved vignette, 2 hand-colored engraved plates of Linnean botany, and 100 hand-colored botanical woodblock prints after Fuchs.
Bound by Jaeger in parchment backed speckled board. On the spine, author and abridged title gilt to a green morocco lettering piece.
Boards rubbed along the top edge. Evenly toned with foxing throughout, most noticeable at the margins. Dampstain to the top corner from S1–T1 (3 leaves, 7 plates). Ink manuscript ownership inscription of “Joseph Hartmann / […] / 1865” to the recto of the flyleaf and paper label of Johann Caspar Fuesslin to the verso. Embossing of Dr. Michael D. Paul’s library collection to the title leaf. Binder’s stamp of Buchbinderei Jaeger Basel to the rear pastedown. Pagination continuous with single leaf of quire Hh; cataloged complete.
Salomon Schinz (1734–1784) was working as the attending physician in Zurich’s largest orphanage when he decided to release his guide to medicinal plants with illustations printed from the original woodblocks of Leonhart Fuch’s legendary herbal, De historia stirpium (1542). In regards to how Schinz gained access to the blocks, he casually reports in his preface that “I was pleased when the idea fortunately came to me that my uncle, Mr. Dozor, and Mr. [Johann Conrad] Gessner possess the entire collection of wooden forms from the botanical history of Mr. Leonhard Fuchsen.” Schinz’s own musings accompany the prints and, as a project to enhance the work ethic and moral character of his patients, the botanical illustrations were hand-colored by the orphans of the institution. Schinz’s aim for the text was to make it accessible to young people and reinvigorate Fuch’s work, which Schinz believed to be undervalued in the Linnean age.
Johann Kaspar Füssli (Johann Caspar Fuesslin, Fuessly; 1743–1786), was a Swiss painter, entomologist and publisher. Füssli illustrated his own works of entomology, and, in the present day, he is remembered for first describing the "daddy long-legs spider,” which he called Aranea phalangoides (Pholcus phalangioides).
Dr. Michael D. Paul was a nephrologist, an impassioned supporter of special collections, and a dedicated patron of dealers in fine printing and rare Judaica. Through his support, the Jewish Public Library launched the Dr. Michael D. Paul Rare Books Initiative, which worked to bring its 1,500 rare texts to the public through visits to secondary schools, community centers, libraries, and synagogues. In memoriam for Dr. Paul, JPL’s director, Eddie Paul, aptly summarized the collector’s life and work, writing, “Kidneys filter and clear toxins from the blood; books help to clarify and filter the detritus the world throws at the imagination.”
Dunthorne 275; Hunt 640; Nissen BBI 1761; Stafleu & Cowan 10.722
Cataloged by G.R. Murdock
Item #GRM0086
Price: $5,800