Jacquin,N.J.v. Lot n° 1516

Selectarum stirpium Americanarum historia, in qua sistuntur plantae illae, quas in insulis Martinica, Jamaica, Domingo aliisque, et in vicinae continentis parte, observavit rariores. With gest. Frontispiece, title vignette, 2 gest. Vign. a. 184 (6 double-sheet resp. folded) copper plates. Text and plates in 1 vol. Vienna, Kraus, 1763. folio. 5 vols., VII p., 284 p., 7 vols. Bound in gilt with rich reredos and brown label. (Cover partially restored at spine). First edition. - The first major work of illustration by Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin, who traveled to the West Indies from 1754 to 1759 to collect new plants for the imperial gardens at Vienna and Schönbrunn Palace. The magnificent engraved drawings by the author "are excellent for the period" (Zimmer). The copperplate title shows the arriving colonists in the Caribbean in stormy seas, the frontispiece with Native Americans surrounded by Caribbean botany and animals. "In 1754, at the age of 27, a botanist born in Leiden, Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin, made his first expedition to Central America. He was collecting seeds and plants for the Imperial gardens at Schonbrunn in Vienna. He took with him his Dutch head gardener and two Italian zoologists, and initially they concentrated on Grenada, Martinique, and Domingo, then under the control of the French. Von Jacquin sent the others home, in succession, laden with plants, but was himself captured by the British and kept prisoner for over a year. On his release, he remained in America, visiting Cuba and Jamaica to collect more plants before returning to Vienna in 1759. His books are among the finest of the period: 'Selectarum stirpium Americanarum historia' was first published in 1763" as here (Martyn Rix, "The Golden Age of Botanical Art," p. 114). Few plates with worm marks especially at margins. A3 prebound before A2. Good copy. Caribbean - Botany. - With engraved frontispiece, title vignette, 2 engraved vignettes and 184 engraved plates. First edition. The first large illustration work by Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin, who traveled from 1754 to 1759 in the West Indies, to collect new plants for the imperial gardens at Vienna and Schönbrunn Palace. The magnificent ones engraved according to drawings by the author "are excellent for the period" (room). The copper title shows the arriving colonists in the Caribbean in a stormy sea, the frontispiece with Native Americans surrounded by Caribbean botany and animals. "In 1754, at the age of 27, a botanist born in Leiden, Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin, made his first expedition to Central America. He was collecting seeds and plants for the Imperial gardens at Schonbrunn in Vienna. He took with him his Dutch head gardener and two Italian zoologists, and initially they concentrated on Grenada, Martinique, and Domingo, then under the control of the French. Von Jacquin sent the others home, in succession, laden with plants, but was himself captured by the British and kept prisoner for over a year. On his release, he remained in America, visiting Cuba and Jamaica to collect more plants before returning to Vienna in 1759. His books are among the finest of the period: 'Selectarum stirpium Americanarum historia' was first published in 1763 " as here (Martyn Rix," The Golden Age of Botanical Art, "p. 114). Few panels, especially on the edge with traces of worms. A3 bound before A2. - Good copy.