Description:
Johann Theodor de Bry and Matteus Merian
”Florilegium renovatum et auctum: Das ist Vernewertes und vermehrtes Blumenbuch.” Frankfurt: Matthaeus Merian, 1641 [–1644].
"Florilegium renovatum is a much richer work than the earlier Florilegium novum, many illustrations from other sources having been added to de Bry's seventy plates. The allegorical title-page and the first thirty-two plates—illustrating parterres, urns of flowers and gardening tools, as well as plants—were drawn from De florum cultura by the Jesuit Giovanni Battista Ferrari, published in Rome in 1633. Merian reproduced Ferrari's plates, reversing them in the printing process, and sometimes adding butterflies or other features or combining figures from more than one illustration", "The unsurpassed artistry for which de Bry was renowned throughout Europe emerges clearly in the plates of the Florilegium. Each has been carefully composed, and the confident lines of the engraving, with their fine shading, denote the hand of a true master" (An Oak Spring Flora).
This work is a folio containing a total of 177 engravings, including a double-page engraving titled "Hortus magnificus," depicting the Schwinden garden, with some coloring. It also includes 32 engraved plates of parterres, flower urns, gardening tools, and flowering plants. The engravings are numbered 1–50, 50–129, 129–131, and 133–142, with some that are foldable. The work lacks only the final, unnumbered plate "Hic flos rosarum Pragae repertus," which was issued a few years later. There are also two additional botanical watercolors following the last plate. This is the second, much enlarged edition of one of the most beautiful botanical books of the 17th century. The text is in German. The book is bound in later half calf, with slight superficial wear but in fine condition, and comes in a protective slipcase.
Nissen, Botanische Buchillustration, 274. Hunt Botanical Catalogue, 237.
Condition Description:
The engraved title has been laid down, with minimal paper loss in the lower margin and slight finger-soiling. Plate 4 in the first sequence has a tear in the lower margin without any loss, while plate 27 is torn in the lower margin with minimal paper loss, and plate 28 is torn into the image. In the second sequence, plates 47, 50B, 73, 86, and 87 have slight tears into the image. Plate 89 shows slight damage to the lower outer corner with insignificant paper loss. Folding plates 113, 116, 123, and 142 are partially or entirely neatly laid down to repair long tears into the image. The lowermost portion of plate 85 has been torn off but is preserved. There are a few neat repairs, such as on the versos of plates 1 and 84. Ink stains are present on plates 51 and 58, and there are one or two wormholes on plates 81–90.
