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. "Malva arborescens" Original etching. Nice copy printed on thick laid paper apparently without watermark, complete with the imprint of the plate on three sides and bordered on the right one, with the text on the reverse as in all the runs after the first, slightly burnished and with some small defects on the edges which are reinforced in the left and right, all clearly visible from the image, in good general condition and 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: 482ca x 397ca (multiple edges)