Besler, Basilius

Hortus Eystettensis, Sive Diligens et accurata omnium Plantarum, Florum, Stirpium, ex variis orbis terræ partibus, singulari studio collectarum quæ in celeberrimis viridariis arcem episcopalem ibidem cingentibus, hoc tempore conspiciuntus delineatio et ad vivum repræsentatio Operâ Basilii Besleri Philiatri et pharmacopoei. M.D C.XIII

Two volumes. [Nuremberg (and Altdorf): K. Bauer,] 1613. First edition, variant A.

Broadsheet folio (21 1/8” x 17 1/8”, 540mm x 434mm).
Vol. I: (:)-(:)(:)(:)¹ )(¹ χ-2χ¹ a(o)-o(o)¹ 3χ¹ A-S¹ 4χ¹ A)(-R)(¹ 5χ¹ Α)()(-R)()(¹ 6χ¹ A)()()(-N)()()(¹ 7χ¹ A)()()()(¹ C-O)()()()(¹ 8χ¹ A)()()()()(-P)()()()()(¹ 9χ¹ A)()()()()()(-H)()()()()()(¹ 10χ¹ A)()()()()()()(-I)()()()()()()(¹ 11χ¹ A)()()()()()()()(-I)()()()()()()()(¹ ₂A)(¹ ₂B)()(¹ ₂C)()()(¹ ₂D)()()()(¹ ₃A)(¹ ₃B)()(¹ ₃C)()()(¹ [$1 signed]. 155 leaves, foll. [5] (5pp. dedication to Johann Konrad von Gemmingen, Prince-Bishop of Eichstätt; decanal preface, 2pp. to the reader, list of authors cited, engraved portrait and arms of the author with verses), [1] (Spring order fly-title, plate) _π1-2 _π3-14, [1] (first order fly-title, plate) 1-18, [1] (second order fly-title, plate) ₂1-17, [1] (third order fly-title, plate) ₃1 ₃2-17, [1] (fourth order fly-title, plate) ₄1-13, [1] (fifth order fly-title, plate) ₅1-14, [1] (sixth order fly-title, plate) ₆1-15, [1] (seventh order fly-title, plate) ₇1-8, [1] (eighth order fly-title, plate) ₈1-9, [1] (ninth order fly-title, plate) ₉1-9, [14] (7pp. Latin index, blank, 6pp. German index). With 135 engraved plates: an engraved title-page, an engraved class fly-title (Spring) and 133 (of 134) botanical plates integral with the text.
Vol. II: π¹ aa:):(:-oo:):(:¹ χ¹ Aa)(2-Qq)(2¹ 2χ¹ Aa)()(2-Qq)()(2¹ 3χ¹ Aa)()()(2-Kk)()()(2¹ 4χ¹ Aa)()()()(2-Mm)()()()(2¹ 5χ¹ Aa)()()()()(2-Mm)()()()()(2¹ 6χ¹ Aa)()()()()()(2-Kk)()()()()()(2¹ 7χ¹ Aa)()()()()()()(2-Mm)()()()()()()(2¹ 8χ¹ Aa)()()()()()()()(2-Mm)()()()()()()()(2¹ 9χ¹ Aa)()()()()()()()()(2-Mm)()()()()()()()()(2¹ 10χ¹ Aa)()()()()()()()()()(2-Mm)()()()()()()()()()(2¹ 11χ¹ Aa)()()()()()()()()()()(2-Kk)()()()()()()()()()()(2¹ 12χ¹ Aa)()()()()()()()()()()()(2-Kk)()()()()()()()()()()()(2¹ 13χ¹ Aa)()()()()()()()()()()()()(2-Ll)()()()()()()()()()()()()(2¹ 14χ¹ Aa)()()()()()()()()()()()()()(2-Cc)()()()()()()()()()()()()()(2¹ Ee)()()()()()()()()()()()()()(2-Oo)()()()()()()()()()()()()()(2¹ Aa-Ee¹ Gg¹ 15χ-16χ¹ AA)(3-NN)(3¹ 17χ¹ AA)()(3-NN)()(3¹ 18χ¹ AA)()()(3-II)()()(3¹ 19χ¹ AA)()()()(3-GG)()()()(3¹ aa-cc¹ 20χ¹ A4-G4¹ A¹ [$1 signed]. 262 leaves, foll. [1] (Summer order fly-title, plate) _π1-14, [1] (first order fly-title, plate) 1-16, [1] (second order fly-title, plate) ₂1-16, [1] (third order fly-title, plate) ₃1-10, [1] (fourth order fly-title, plate) ₄1-12, [1] (fifth order fly-title, plate) ₅1-12, [1] (sixth order fly-title, plate) ₆1-10, [1] (seventh order fly-title, plate) ₇1-12, [1] (eighth order fly-title, plate) ₈1-12, [1] (ninth order fly-title, plate) ₉1-12, [1] (tenth order fly-title, plate) ₁₀1-12, [1] (eleventh order fly-title, plate) ₁₁1-10, [1] (twelfth order fly-title, plate) ₁₂1-10, [1] (thirteenth order fly-title, plate) ₁₃1-11, [1] (fourteenth order fly-title, plate) ₁₄1-3 ₁₄5-14, [7] (9pp. Latin index, 4pp. German index, blank), [1] (Autumn order fly-title, plate) ₁₅1-13, [1] (first order fly-title, plate) ₁₆1-13,  [1] (second order fly-title, plate) ₁₇1-9, [1] (third order fly-title, plate), ₁₈1-7, [3] (3pp. Latin index, 2pp. German index, blank), [1] (Winter first order fly-title, plate) ₁₉1-7, [1] (Latin index, German index). With 234 engraved plates: 3 class-titles and 231 (of 232) botanical plates, of which 230 are integral with the text.
With 369 of 371 engraved plates; an engraved title and 4 class (i.e., season)-titles plus 364 (of 366) botanical plates, all but one (the upper portion of the “Martagon imperiale,” blank verso) with text verso. Lacking 2 privilege leaves and one leaf of the German index to the Summer section.

Bound in later (XVIIIc?) half mottled calf over magenta paste-paper. On the spine, six raised bands. Author and title gilt to green morocco in the second panel, number gilt to beige morocco in the third, paper shelf-label to the sixth. All edges of the text-block speckled red-and-black.

General wear to the extremities, with some bumps. Head- and tail-pieces of vol. II splitting. Internally, damp-staining to the first three dozen leaves of vol. I, mostly moderate but occasionally heavy, and to the last three dozen leaves, mostly mild. Concomitant marginal chipping and earlier campaigns of (excessive) repair to those leaves. Worming at the gutter of the title-leaf through )(1 (4 leaves) of vol. I, not affecting the text. Vol. II superior, albeit with passages of soiling and water-staining around Kk)()(2. A handful of leaves trimmed at the fore. Lacking five leaves. In vol. I: the two privilege leaves and B)()()()(1 (fol. 2 of the 5^th order of Spring, the text of the Corona Imperialis recto and the plate of the Corona Imperialis Polyanthos verso). In vol. II: Dd)()()()()()()()()()()()()()(2₁ (fol. 4 of the 14^th order of Summer, the text of the Caryophyllus flore maiore recto and the plate of the Caryophyllus multiplex verso) and one leaf of the German index to the Summer section (Ff1). Armorial bookplate of the St. Cuthbert’s College, Ushaw (“Ex libris bibliothecæ collegii Sancti Cuthberti”) to the front paste-down of each volume with (their?) shelfmark above (vol. I) or opposite (vol. II) in graphite, with copious booksellers’ notes to the recto and verso of the free end-paper of vol. I.


Basilius Besler (1561–1629) was born a little before the death of Leonhart Fuchs, the last of the three German fathers of botany — Brunfels and Bock preceding him — and his magnum opus, the Hortus Eystettensis, shows just how far the discipline had come in the North of Europe. The gardens of Italy, patronized by Medici and Borghese cardinals, popes and princes, were far advanced in their plantings and publications; the Hortus reset that relationship. Besler was a Nuremberg apothecary, which in the period was nearly synonymous with being a botanist; medical treatments were largely compounded from botanical “simples.”

Eichstätt, some 35 miles south of Nuremberg and 50 miles north of Munich, was the seat of the Catholic Prince-bishop Johann Konrad von Gemmingen (1561–1612) and his botanic gardens, then the most splendid in Germany. From 1598 Besler managed Gemmingen’s vast gardens at Willibaldsburg castle, where he gathered a great many exotic specimens. Gemmingen in 1611 both undertook a reorganization of the garden and commissioned Besler to document the best specimens from it — organized by season following Joachim Camerarius, and broken further into orders — as his health declined. He did not survive to see the book published in early 1613; the earliest issues are still dedicated to him (as is the present copy), whereas later ones have a dedication to his successor, Johann Christoph von Wetterstetten.

There are further distinctions of issue; the present one, with text printed on the same sheet as the plates, as well as versions with text on separate leaves — usually called the de luxe edition, meant as gifts, and nearly always colored — or altogether absent (the book’s text was not much celebrated). There is also the question of color; an uncolored copy sold for 35 florins, colored ones for as much as 500 florins (the cost of a small house). Most examples — especially those that have appeared on the market — have been colored, but this of course runs counter to expectations. It is almost certainly the case that many examples were colored (much) later. The benefit of the uncolored copy is twofold: the engraved line is clearer, and it is certain not to have later color.

The engraving itself — carried out principally by Wolfgang Kilian, but with contributions from Georg Gartner, Peter Isselburg and several others — is of an exceptional standard. Unlike much engraving of the period, which includes etching (allowing for washes of color and freer lines), the plates of the Hortus are executed purely with the burin (graver). The images are some of the most celebrated Renaissance flower-portraits, especially the full-page sunflower and artichoke. In the Summer and Autumn classes are many New World plants, including melons, pumpkins and peppers.

Recent auction results have proven the Hortus to have an electric effect on the market; a copy with the later dedication and without the text — albeit colored, and with a curious provenance — sold for over £1.9M (over $2.5M) at Christie’s London 13 July 2016 (lot 173), more than doubling its low estimate. Given that only 300 copies of all the 1613 issues were produced, and many now broken into individual sheets, it is little surprise.

The present example was in the library of St. Cuthbert’s College, Ushaw in Co. Durham, a now-defunct seminary founded in 1808; perhaps it was their librarian who condition-checked the volumes in 1976. It was in its time the principal Catholic seminary for the North of England, a fitting repository for the celebrated legacy of a Catholic Prince-bishop. Purchased at Sotheby’s London 17 November 2005, lot 60.

Nissen, BBI 158; Pritzel 745; Stafleu-Cowan 497; VD17 39:126168X (var. A).

See Nicolas Barker, Hortus Eystettensis The Bishop’s Garden and Besler’s Magnificent Book (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1994).

Item #JLR0551

Price: $425,000