80 2358 Botany Weinmann J W

- Almost all plates in fine condition. Eight plates sl. waterstained in upper outer corner.of image; a few of the plates showing fruit show sl. traces of sticking to verso of opposite plate; two of the fruit plates have a thumbnail size stain. A complete set contains 1025 plates and 2 portraits (the latter not present in our copy). Bindings rubbed/ sl. worn.

= First and only Dutch edition of the florilegium "Phytanthoza iconographia" (first Latin 1737-1745) by the German apothecary and botanist from Regensburg J.W. Weinmann (1683-1741), a work that stood out for its use of a new technique used for the plates: "The copperplates (...) were printed according to Johannes Teyler's invention, patented 1688; they are engraved in combination with mezzotint printed in colour and finished by hand" (Landwehr 212). The three volumes of this lot form an important part of an immense project in which a young and then still unknown botanist and artist called Georg Dionysius Ehret (1708-1770), could show his artistic genius for the first time. Due a disagreement with Weinmann (who refused to pay him in full for the work he had done in his first year), he left his job and soon found a better place in England to develop his botanical knowledge and artistry. Nissen, BBI 2126; Pritzel 10140. SEE ILLUSTRATION ON FRONTCOVER.