from BASILIUS BESLER 1561 - 1629 "HORTUS HEYSTETTENSIS sive diligens et accurate omnium plantarum, florum, stirpium, et variis orbis terrae partibus, singular study collectarum" Nuremberg 1713, centennial edition. "Moluca odorata spinosa" Original etching. Specimen in good general condition, with the text on the reverse as in all the runs after the first, with large margins beyond the imprint of the plate and some small defects on the edges, in the traditional watercolor coloring and tempera of the later era. This magnificent work was conceived to celebrate the beauty of the gardens of the residence of the Bishop of Eichstatt, Johann Conrad von Gemmingen, and saw for over ten years among the best designers and engravers of that period. The curator Basilius Besler was a well-known botanist and pharmacist from Nuremberg. Bibliography: Littger "Der Garten von Eichstatt" Cologne 1999. Nissen "Die Botanische Buchillustration" Stuttgart 1966. Pritzel "Thesaurus Literaturae Botanicae" Leipzig 1871-77. Measurements in mm: 478 x 400