‎Botany‎

‎"LINNAEUS, CARL (LINNÉ).‎

‎Tal, om Märkwärdigheter uti insecterne, hållt för Wettenscaps Academien uti Auditorio Illustri på första Præsidentskapet aflades 1739. D. 3. October. - [LINNAEUS' VIEW OF NATURE]‎

‎Stockholm, Pet. Momma, 1739. Small 8vo. Preserved in covers of older blindstamped golden paper. Title-page a bit soiled and with old owner's names (one of them crossed out, the other one being Roland Martin). A small restoration to lower blank margin of title-page. Woodcut initial at beginning and woodcut end-vignette. (18) pp.‎

‎Exceedingly rare first edition, first issue (with an excellent provenance) of Linnaeus' seminal speech which has gone down in history as one of the most famous and influential summations on the economy of nature - demonstrated by ""curiosities among insects"". With poetical eloquence, Linnaeus shows us the wonder of the small creature that is the insect and beautifully ties together the nature of the world that we live in, providing to all living things a means and an end. Published merely four years after the groundbreaking first edition of the ""Systema Natura"" - and two decades before the definitive 10th edition of it - Linnaeus, in this epochal speech, points us to the fact that only with the ""Systema Natura"" had the true nature of the insect been discovered, revealing to us also the true wonder of nature. This groundbreaking speech was given at the inauguration of the Royal Academy of Sciences in Stockholm in 1739. Linnaeus himself was one of the founders of the academy"" this foundational speech not only marks the beginning of the world-changing Academy of Sciences, being the first in a long series of presiding speeches that were given four times a year (when the Academy chose a new chairman), it also marks an epoch in the theory of natural history. The frequent reprinting of the speech bears witness to its epochal character and the importance it came to hold for Linnaeus himself. The extremely scarce first issue was printed by Momma in a poor antiqua setting, mixing three different styles, and the last three pages are in a smaller font. New issues appeared in Swedish in 1747 and 1752, the speech was reprinted in Latin numerous times in different issues of the ""Amoenitates"", and it was translated into English and German. When occupying oneself with the greatest modern zoologist, Carl von Linné, the founder of binominal nomenclature, one rarely comes across references to his philosophical theory of the world. Unlike many modern thinkers, 18th century scientists and philosophers did not find the notion of God as ruler of the Universe incompatible with hard scientific facts. On the contrary, the relationship between God and Nature was an issue of crucial importance to many natural scientists of the period. The present speech constitutes the most important declaration of Linnaeus' thoughts on the subject, presenting him as what we would call a ""physicotheologist"". By means of the ""curiosities among insects"", Linnaeus here presents Nature as a single, self-regulating global entity - an entity that is a wonder created by God. The present publication constitutes one of the most personal works that Linnaeus ever wrote and provides with a direct insight into his entire world view - the view of the world that enabled us to properly classify and systematize all living things. It is not least due to the present work that Linnaeus was so widely admired by the greatest of his contemporaries. In his own time he was not only admired for his great scientific accomplishments, he became famous for wider cultural reasons and for the moral qualities that understream his scientific work. That is the main reason why he was considered a hero by the likes of Rousseau and why the likes of Goethe made debating Linnaeus a pastime in fashionable Romantic circles. The work is of the greatest scarcity. OCLC lists merely six copies in libraries world-wide, two of which are in the US: Kansas State University and North Carolina State University. The remaining four copies are in: Sweden, France, UK, and The Netherlands. ROLAND MARTIN (1726-1788) was prominent physician, who was a student of Linnaeus. He studied at the University of Uppsala and here defended his dissertation in 1745 (under Linnaeus). He was nominated professor of medicine twice, but refused both times. He was considered an excellent teacher and a great physician, but he was a controversian man and caused dramatic debacle when he left the Collegium medicum and joined the Societas chirurgica (only to return in 1766, with a tarnished reputation). Hult, p. 31-32.BMC 3141Soulsby 1341‎

Bookseller reference : 50984

‎"LIEBMANN, F.‎

‎Mexicos Bregner, en systematisk, critisk, plantegeographisk Undersögelse.(The Ferns of Mexico...).‎

‎Kjöbenhavn, Bianco Luno, 1849. 4to. No wrappers. In: ""Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskabs Skrifter"".Titlepage. a. pp. 153-322. Clean and fine.‎

‎"LINNAEUS, CARL (LINNÉ).‎

‎Bibliotheca Botanica. Recensens libros plus mille de plantis huc usque editos, secundum systema auctorum naturale in classes, ordines, genera et species dispositos, additis editionis loco, tempore, forma, lingua caet. Pars 1Edito Nova Multo Correctior. - [THE FIRST BOTANICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY ARRANGED BY SUBJECT]‎

‎Halae Sailcae [i.e. Stockholm]: Apud Io. Gottl. Bierwirth, 1747. 8vo. Contemporary marbled paper binding with handwritten paper label to spine. Occational signs of wear. Overall a very nice copy. [XIV], 124, [8] pp.‎

‎"LINNÉ, CARL von.‎

‎Reisen durch Oeland und Gothland, welche auf Befehl der hochlöblichen Reichsstände des Königreichs Schweden im Jahr 1741. angestellt worden. Aus dem schwedischen übersetzt. Mit Kupfern.‎

‎Halle, Curt, 1764. Bound in a nice contemp. hcalf. Richly gilt spine. Titlelabel with gilt lettering. (32),364,(24) pp., 2 folded engraved maps, 3 engraved plates. A neath repair to upper inner corner of margin on some of the first leaves. Otherwise clean and fine.‎

‎"LUNDSTRÖM, AXEL N.‎

‎Kritische Bemerkungen ueber die Weiden Nowaja Semljas und ihren genetischen Zusammenhang.‎

‎Upsala, Akademischen Buchdruckerei, 1877. 4to. Contemp. clothbacked boards. Stamp on title-page. 86 pp., 1 plate. Offprint from ""Nova Acta Reg. Soc. Ups. Ser.III"".‎

Bookseller reference : 54987

‎"MATTIOLI (MATTHIOLUS), PETRUS ANDREAE.‎

‎Commentarii secundo aucti in Libros sex Pedacii Dioscoridis Anazarbei de Medica Materia. Adiectis quamplurimis plantarum, & animalium imaginibus, quæ in priore editione non habentur, eodem auctore. Hic accessit eivsdem Apologia Adversus Amathum Lusita... - [AN ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF RENAISSANCE PHARMACOLOGY]‎

‎Venetiis, In Officina Valgrisiana, 1559. Folio. (31,5x22,5 cm) Contemporary full Italian vellum. (100),776 pp. + Apologia (having its own title page) 46,(1) pp. Printers woodcut-device at both titles and on last leaf verso. With more than 700 fine wood-cuts in the text (of animals and plants). Light browning to title page, 2 corners repaired, no loss of text, 6 last leaves strengthened in outer margins, no loss of text. A few scattered brown spots and a few marginal notes. In general fine and clean, printed on good paper. Old name on title, Wolffgangus Hendl, 1564 P.V.Q.‎

‎Scarce third Latin edition of this, the most famous commentary on the Materia Medica of Dioscorides, having here also the text of Dioscorides, who was the originator of the Materia Medica of antiquity. The first edition was printed 1554 and it had fewer and smaller illustrations in the text. ""The use of illustrations to aid in describing and identifying plants was taken up enthusiastically by the Italian botanists. Ghini himself planned an illustrated work which was not carried out, but he helped and encouraged Mattioli to proceed with his Commentarii in VI Dioscoridis Libros which appeared with over 500 mostly excellent figures only a dozen years after Fuchs, and a few years later was reissued with some 1200 figures...his commentaries on Dioscorides became practically a general flora: they were immensely popular in Europe because of their mostly excellent illustrations, and many edition were published in Latin, Italian, German and Czech."" (A.G. Morton). In Germany it was published under the title ""New Kräuterbuch"" and according to Sarton, Mattioli became a magnet of botanical information. - Pritzel 1559. - Choulant p. 80 - Nissen BBI: 1305.‎

Bookseller reference : 35571

‎"MEDDELELSER OM GRØNLAND BIND 20 -‎

‎Heri Bidrag af L.Kolderup Rosenvinge (Om Algevegetationen ved Grønlands Kyster), Joh. Chr. Moberg, Finnur Jónsson (Grønlands gamle Topografi efter Kilderne, Østerbygden og Vesterbygden), Frode Petersen (Om Identificeringen af ""Brade Ransons Forde"").‎

‎Kjøbenhan, Reitzel, 1899. Ubeskåret i orig. bogtrykt omslag. 351 pp., 1 tavle, 2 litograferede foldekort.‎

‎(Meddelelser om grønland, Bd. 20).‎

Bookseller reference : 32160

‎"MECKEL, JOHANN FRIEDRICH & J.G. GLEDISCH.‎

‎Observations sur quelques Maladies assez rares. (and Gledisch:) Eclaircissemens historiques et physiques sur diverses Plantes qui ont été prises pour le véritable Aegolethron de Pline.‎

‎(Berlin, Haude et Spener, 1766). 4to. No wrappers, as issued in ""Memoires de L'Academie Royale des Science et Belles Lettres"", tome XV, pp.35-48 and pp. 49-86.Meckel's paper having 3 folded engraved plates.‎

‎"MORTENSEN, H.‎

‎Naturhistorie for Ungdommen. Nærmest efter F. Martin's ""Naturgeschichte für die Jugens"". Med 262 illuminerede Figurer.‎

‎Kbhvn., P.G. Philipsen, 1859. Orig. farvelitograferet papbd. Ryggen mangler. Bindet med brugsspor. (4),546 pp. samt 38 plancher, hvoraf de 28 er håndkoloreret, herpå 262 illustr.‎

Bookseller reference : 26176

‎"MORTENSEN, H.‎

‎Naturhistorie for Ungdommen. Nærmest efter F. Martin's ""Naturgeschichte für die Jugens"". Med 262 illuminerede Figurer.‎

‎Kbhvn., P.G. Philipsen, 1859. Orig. farvelitograferet papbd. Ryggen mangler. Bindet med brugsspor. (4),546 pp. samt 38 plancher, hvoraf de 28 er håndkoloreret, herpå 262 illustr.‎

‎"NIELSEN, R.‎

‎Om Tropiske Orchideer og deres Dyrkning.‎

‎København, Gyldendal, 1895. 4to. Orig.hshirtbd. Ryg med en smule kantslid. Forperm med et par brunpletter.ll9 pp. samt l6 farvelitograferede plancher. Med dedikation på fribladet ""Til Hr. Overgartner Heise/ Venligst fra/ Rud. Nielsen""‎

Bookseller reference : 41624

‎"OEDER, GEORG CHRISTIAN. - FØRSTE DANSKE LÆREBOG I BOTANIK.‎

‎Einleitung zu der Kräuterkenntniss. (Erster Band) Erster-Zweyter Theil. (alles erschienen).‎

‎Kopenhagen, Nic. Møller, 1764-66. 2 samtidige marmorerede papirsomslag. Stort, helt ubeskåret eksemplar på svært skrivepapir. (8),163,(1),(4),(164-) 434,(2) pp. samt 14 kobberstukne plancher med mange afbildninger. Titelbladet og indholdsfortegnelsen til 2. del lidt snavset, eller aldeles rent eksemplar. Med det trykte blad i del 2 ""Flora Danica. Erster Band"" (idet værket skulle være et af de tekstbind som var planlagt at medfølge udgivelsen af Flora Danica, der kom kun dette).‎

‎Originaludgaven af den første danske lærebog i botanik. Det var Oeder som udkastede ideen til udgivelsen af ""Flora Danica"", og han blev dets første redaktør. Ovenstående er det første tekstværk, som skulle udgøre en del af ""Flora Danica"", det blev ikke til mere. Værket udkom på både Latin, Tysk og Dansk, som tillægshefter til Flora Danica, og det uddeltes til værkets subskribenter. - Bibl. Danica II:185-86. - Carl Christensen II, p. 47 nr. 10 a. - Stafleu a. Cowan: 7002.‎

Bookseller reference : 38664

‎"PAULLI, SIMON - FIRST DANISH ILLUSTRATED HERBAL.‎

‎Flora Danica Det er: Dansk Vrtebog: Vdi huilcken, efter hans Kongl: Mayst... høylofligst Ihukommelse Christiani IV....skriftlig Befalning til Facultatem Medicam, udi det Kongelig Universiteet Kiøbenhafn, icke alleeniste Vrternes Historiske Beskrifvels...‎

‎Kiøbenhafn, Melchiore Martzan, (1647-) 1648. 4to. (19,2x14,5 cm.). Senere helldrbd. med rig rygforgyldning (fra ca 1850). Med en krakelering i midten af ryggen der er repareret, ligesom kapitæler og false. Kobberstukket portræt af Paulli (efter Karel van Mander), kobberstukket titelblad afbildende gudinden Flora siddende i en portal hvorigennem der er udsigt til byens tårne (disse to kobbere tæt beskåret i ene margin og opklæbet). De 4 deltitelblade med de såkaldte årstidkobbere mangler. (36),(786 (= fol 1-393)),(94) pp. samt 376 helsides træsnit af planter på 188 blade. De 4 deltitelblade som hører til billeddelen er tilstede.Til slut kolofonbladet med Plantin's helsides træskårne bogtrykkermærke. Billeddelen har tilskrifter i gl. hånd med danske navne og undertiden anføres deres brug. Marginalnoterne er her tæt beskåret ved ombindingen. Trykt på svært papir, eksemplaret er i god stand med kun lette brugsspor. Registerbladene (94) omfatter 4 registre, 3 sprogregistre (latin, tysk, dansk) og et ""sygdomsregister"".‎

‎Den sjældne originaludgave af det første danske Herbarium, der som titelbladet angiver både skulle tjene som en botanik, men også som en lægebog. Bogen er et af 16oo-tallets finest udstyrede danske værker. I et brev dateret 1645 opfordrer Christian IV Collegium Medicum til at forfatte et værk, som skulle indeholde allehånde råd mod sygdomme, og oplysning om, hvor folk kunne finde urterne således at de uden de store omkostninger kunne kurere sig selv når sygdom opstod. Kollegiet overdrog opgaven hermed til Simon Paulli. En af grundene til, at bogen kom i et så fint udstyr er, at forlæggeren Balthasar Moret fra Plantin-trykkeriet i Antwerpen overlod de af ham ejede botaniske træsnit, som tidligere havde været anvendt i Tabermontanus' værker, til bogens illustrationsdel. Da teksten i vid udstrækning bygger på Dodonæus' værk, er kun 224 af de 380 arter som beskrives, danske. - Nissen BBI: 1497. - Birkelund: 50. - Bibl. Danica II:188.‎

Bookseller reference : 35404

‎"ROTTBØLL, FRIIS (C.F.).‎

‎Beskrivelse over nogle Planter fra de malabariske Kyster.‎

‎(København, Hallager,1783). 4to. Uden omslag. I: ""Videnskabernes Selskabs Skrifter"" Nye Samling, Anden. Del. Pp. 525-546 samt 6 store kobberstukne foldeplancher. Rent frisk eksemplar på skrivepapir.‎

Bookseller reference : 45586

‎"ROTTBØLL, FRIIS (C.F.).‎

‎Beskrivelse over nogle Planter fra de malabariske Kyster.‎

‎(København, Hallager,1783). 4to. Uden omslag. I: ""Videnskabernes Selskabs Skrifter"" Nye Samling, Anden. Del. Pp. 525-546 samt 6 store kobberstukne foldeplancher. Rent frisk eksemplar på skrivepapir.‎

‎"RÉAUMUR, (RENÉ-ANTOINE FERCHAULT DE).‎

‎Description des Fleurs & des Graines de divers Fucus, & quelques autres Observations physiques sur ces mesmes Plantes. (+) Suite d'un Memoire...sur les Fleurs & les Graines de diverses Plantes marines. (2 Mémoirs).‎

‎(Paris, L'Imprimerie Royale, 1714). 4to. Without wrappers. Extracted from ""Mémoires de l'Academie des Sciences. Année 1711"" and ""Année 1712. Pp. 282-302 and 3 large folded engraved plates. + pp. 22-44 and 5 large folded engraved plates.‎

‎First appearance of a classic paper on sea-weeds and marine alga.""Examination for the reproductive structures had already started. In 1711, R.A.F de Réaumur gave an account of Fucus in which noted the two types of external openings in the thallus: the non-sexual cryptostromata (sterile surface cavities) and the conceptacles (fertile cavities, immersed but with a surface opening) containing the sexual organs, which he thought were female flowers. With a lens he was able to see the oogonoa (the female sex organs) and the antheridia (the male sex organs) within the conceptacles, but he interpreted these as seeds, correctly noting that each conceptacle had an opening externally through which they could escape.""(A.G. Morton ""History of Botanical Science"", p. 245.""Réamur was among the greatest naturalists of his or any age. In the breadth and range of his researches, in the patient detail of his observations, and in the brilliant ingenuity of his experiments, it would be difficult to name his equal. Thomas Henry Huxley has compared him favorably with Darwin.""(DSB XI, p. 331).‎

Bookseller reference : 44401

‎"SCHUMACHER, F.C. - NEW SPECIES FROM GUINEA.‎

‎Beskrivelse af Guineiske Planter som ere fundne af Danske Botanikere, især af Etatsraad Thonning. (1.) - 2. Stykke. (Description of Plants from Guinea, found by Danish Botanists, mainly by Thonning). 2 Bd.‎

‎(Copenhagen, (1827) 1828-29). 4to. Uden omslag. Første bind ubeskåret. Rent frisk eksemplar på skrivepapir. Fra (Extracted) ""Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskabs Skrifter"" Pp. 21-248 samt pp. 1-236.‎

‎First printing of this importent botanical work, describing in total 345 new species of Guinean plants, 245 is supplied with Latin descriptions made by Thonning and about 100 by Schumacher. There is 18 new genera described. - Stafleu & Cowan 11.360. - Carl Christensen Bd.2: p. 116.‎

Bookseller reference : 42716

‎"SCHOUSBOE, P.K.A. - FLORA OF MOROCCO.‎

‎Iagttagelser over Vextriget i Marokko. Förste Stykke (all issued).‎

‎(Copenhagen, 1800). 4to. No wrappers as issued in ""Det Kongelige danske Videnskabernes Selskabs Skrifter"". 204 pp. and 7 large folded engraved plates.‎

‎"SCHOUSBOE, P.K.A. - FLORA OF MOROCCO.‎

‎Iagttagelser over Vextriget i Marokko. Förste Stykke (all issued). - [FIRST EDITION OF THE FIRST SYSTEMATIC DESCRIPTION OF THE FLORA OF MOROCCO]‎

‎(Copenhagen, 1800). 4to. Uncut without wrappers as issued in ""Det Kongelige danske Videnskabernes Selskabs Skrifter"". 204 pp. and 7 large folded engraved plates.‎

‎"SHIRASAWA, M. HOMI (YASUMI). - THE MONUMENTAL ""FOREST TREES IN JAPAN"".‎

‎Iconographie des Essences Forestiéres du Japon. Préparée par M. Homi Shirasawa, Inspecteur des Forêts. Tome I-II. 2 Vols. - [THE MONUMENTAL ""FOREST TREES IN JAPAN"".]‎

‎Tokio (Tokyo), 1900-08. Folio. (43x30 cm.). Bound in 2 contemp. hcalf. Covers gilt and with gilt lettering. 2 title-pages in French, 2 title-pages in Japanese and 1 colophon-leaf in Japanese in each volume. With 162 (88 + 74) fine chromolithographed plates, each with Latin nomenclatur and text in Japanese at foot. Some brownspots to the Japanese titles, plates fine and clean.‎

‎"SICKENBERGER, E.‎

‎Contributions a la Flore D'Égypte.‎

‎Le Caire, 1901. 4to. Fine, solid full cloth. (168) pp. Extract from ""Memoires présentés a L'Institut Égyptienne, Tome IV, fasc. II""‎

‎"SOLDIN, A.& S.‎

‎Den danske Flora, eller naturlige Afbildninger af danske Planter. Indeholdende en Samling af de almindelige Markblomster som voxe vildt i Egnen omkring Kjøbenhavn. 1.-4. Hæfte (All that was published /alt som udkom). - [WILD FLOWERS OF THE GREATEST SCARCITY]‎

‎Copenhagen., A.& S. Soldin, Trykt hos C.M. Cohen, 1807. 4to. All four issues in the original blank wrappers with paper title-lables to front wrappers. Each issue with a later cloth backstrip. Housed in an exquisite box with a beautifully gilt red morocco spine and marbled blue and red paper, with gilt super ex-libris to front. Some leaves brownspotted, especially in the fourth issue 48 pp + 40 finely hand-coloured plates (on two of which the engraved is mentioned: ""Fridrich sc.""). Two versions of the title-page for the fourth issue. 4to. Foreligger i de 4 originale hefter med glanspapirsomslag, shirtryg i en smuk bogæske af rød maroquin med rygforgyldning. 4 titelblade (af hefte 4 foreligger 2 versioner). På skrivepapir. 48 pp. samt 40 fint håndkolorerede plancher (på 2 plancher nævnes kobberstikkeren: Fridrich sc.). Nogle plancher brunpletted, især i 4. hefte.‎

‎"STRØM, HANS.‎

‎Fortegnelse over endeel Norske Væxter, især Cryptogamister, som et Tillg til Gunneri Flora Norvegica. 1.-2. Stykke.‎

‎Kiøbenhavn, Thiele, 1788 og 1793. 4to. Ubeskåret uden omslag. Udkom i ""Videnskabernes Selskabs Skrifter"" Nye Samling, 3. og 4. Del. Pp. 348-382 og pp. 369-397.‎

Bookseller reference : 58378

‎"STRØM, HANS.‎

‎Fortegnelse over endeel Norske Væxter, især Cryptogamister, som et Tillg til Gunneri Flora Norvegica. 1.-2. Stykke.‎

‎Kiøbenhavn, Thiele, 1788 og 1793. 4to. Ubeskåret uden omslag. Udkom i ""Videnskabernes Selskabs Skrifter"" Nye Samling, 3. og 4. Del. Pp. 348-382 og pp. 369-397.‎

‎"THEOPHRASTUS ERESII.‎

‎De historia plantarum libri decem. Graecè & Latinè. Textum Graecum variis Lectionibus, emendationibus, hiulcorum supplementis: Latinam Gazae versionem nova interpretatione ad margines: totum Opus absolutissimis cum Notis, tum Commentariis: item rario... - [THE MOST IMPORTANT BOTANICAL WORK OF THE 17TH CENTURY]‎

‎Amsterdam, Heinric Laurentius, 1644. Folio. Contemporary full vellum with neat later (19th century) rebacking. Six raised bands and gilt title to spine. Some wear to extremities. Internally a fresh and clean copy with only a bit of occasional brownspotting. Endpapers with a bit of soiling. 2 bookplates to inside of front board: Gilbert Redgrave, London (dated 1894) & Gorden M. Jones, Virginia. Text in Greek and Latin. Woodcut title-page, numerous woodcut intials throughout, and more than 600 woodcut illustrations in the text. (20), 1187, (1), (88 - Index) pp.‎

‎First edition thus, being the most important and influential edition of Theophrastus' seminal work ""Enquiry into Plants"" - the first systematization of the botanical world and the most important contribution to botanical science up until the Renaissance. Bodaeus von Stapel's groundbreaking edition constitutes the first illustrated edition of Theophrastus' masterpiece as well as the first with both Greek and Latin text. Furthermore, von Stapel has not only collected all relevant commentaries and knowledge, he has also added corrections and much foundational information, turning the work into one of the most influential botanical works of the 17th century, profoundly influencing the likes of Linnaeus and contributing significantly to the development of modern scientific botany. ""This edition displays great care and research" the notes are numerous and learned, and all botanical information to be gleaned from Aristotle, Pliny, Dioscorides, and other ancient writers, seems to be embodied in this work. The Greek text is Heinsius's" the Latin version is that of the editor, who has placed Gaza's in the margin, with frequent corrections. The conjectures of Scaliger, Constantine, and Salmasius, are also incorporated... it has collected into one body the opinions of the old writers on the subject of the PLANTS. It contains some wood-cuts of the rarer species, which are much better uncoloured than coloured."" Dibdin II:498). The numerous woodcut plant illustrations were partly copied from other sources and partly made especially for this edition. Thus, apart from being ""one of the best and most thoughtfully prepared of all the editions of Theophrastos"" (Hunt), our editor has also made original contributions that are of great importance. ""It is interesting not only because of the brilliance of the editing, but, curiously enough, to the American botanist as well, for involving in the discussion certain species from Virginia, other parts of the New World, and Asia. The illustrations of these plants have been largely overlooked in botanical history, because of their incidental presence in a work which might not be expected to contain anything of the sort. Some were merely borrowed from l'Ecluse or de Lobel, but others seem original in this work"" (H.H. Bartlett: Fifty-five Rare Books - quoted by Hunt).At the height of the Renaissance, with the expansion of the known world and the spreading of the book due to the invention of the printing press, many new publications on plants appeared. Most of these publications, however, were primarily concerned with the medicinal qualities of individual plants and only few authors or editors took an interest in the general nature of the plants and how they could systematically be classified. One of the few exceptions was Bodaeus von Stapel. With his seminal 1644 edition of ""Historia Plantarum"", he focused on the overarching classification system of plants and took Theophrastus' work a step further, adding essential commentaries and illustrations - illustrations that were to be copied for centuries after. These illustrations remain the standard illustrations of Theophrastus' foundational work. This edition of Theophrastus' ""Historia Plantarum"" became the standard edition of that earliest work on systematic botany and the edition that all serious scientific botanists of the 17th and 18th centuries will have studied. ""Linnaeus, in the practice of his favourite art of systematizing, classified not only plants but the writers about them. The writers he distinguishes primarily as Botanists, and Plant Lovers, recognizing as Botanists only such as treat of plants from some philosophic or scientific point of view. Choosing his illustrations from annals of remote antiquity, he names among the earliest of the Greeks who wrote of plants Hippocrates"" but because he wrote of plants only in the interests of medicine Linnaeus styles him Father of Medicine... Similarly Aristotle... is down in the Linnaean list of ancient celebrities as Prince of Philosophers. To Theophrastus, however, he accords the title Father of Botany. From this opinion, far from having been newly promulgated in Linnaeus's time, there has been no dissenting voice. On the contrary, Albert Haller, one of the most learned men in Europe in his day, and a botanist of such renown that Linnaeus held him in reverence, and also in some fear, denominates Theophrastus ""the first of real botanists in point of time."" Kurt Sprengel in the nineteenth century, having rehearsed the names of a long line of ancient authors who had written more or less concerning plants, says: ""But the most illustrious of them all, and the true father of botany, was Theophrastus Eresius…."" (Greene, Landmarks of Botanical History, I:128).It is no wonder that Linnaeus should find in Theophrastus the Father of his own field - The ""Historia Plantarum"" was not only the earliest work on systematic botany, it also contained Theophrastus' description of the formation of the plant seed, the earliest account known and the best that was made for 2000 years.Hunt: 240" Pritzel: 9197 BM: V:2091 Dibdin: II:498.‎

Bookseller reference : 50986