WEINMANN, Jean Guillaume. Phytanthoza Iconographia, sive conspectus Aliquot millium, tam Indigenarum quam Exoticarum, ex-quator mundi partibus, longa annorum serie indefessoque studio collectarum, plantarum arborum, fructicum, florum, fructum, fungorum… Oder eigentliche Vorstellung etlicher tausend, so wohl Einheimisch – als Ausländischer, aus allen vier Welt-Theilen, in Verlauf vicler Jahre, mit unermüdetem Fleiss gesammleter Pflanzen, Baüme, Stauden, Kräuter, Blumen, Früchte und schwamme]. (Représentation de quelques milliers d’arbres, arbrisseaux, herbes, fleurs, fruits et champignons, crus dans les quatre parties du monde…)

First edition, complete, of one of the widest and most attractive baroque herbarium, in contemporary coloring.

Nissen 2126; Pritzel 10140; Dunthorne 327; Great Flower Books p. 80; Stafleu-Cowan TL2 17050.

Due to the initiative of J.W. Weinmann, an apothecary from Regensburg, the herbarium was written in Latin and German by J.G. Dietrich, his son N. Dietrich, and A.K. Bieler, whose portrait illustrates the last volume.

Each portrait and frontispiece is printed in blue shades mezzotint.

The very abundant illustration is composed of 1025 plates representing over 4000 figures.

All the plates were executed from the drawings of N. A Samin and Georg. Dyonis Ehret, painter of flowers and fruit (1710-1770), who painted in England a botanical collection for the Duchess of Portland. (Benezit, IV, 125).

They were engraved by J.J. Haid, J.E. Ridinger and J. Seuter, from the Augsburg school, who financed this important project.

Printed in colour in full-page they have been hand-painted in an absolutely wonderful colouring, of which freshness has come down to us.

“The first botanical book to use colour-printed mezzotint successfully “ (Hunt 494).

It is a very complete overview of flowers and grown fruit at the beginning of the 18^th century, gathered from Weinmann’s private collection.

The shades of peonies, puppies, roses, tulips, fruit and sunflowers are particularly remarkable.

The crimson, orangey, blue and yellow roses have kept a brilliant freshness.

The plates are “of particular interest on account of the colour printing, especially the plates of Aloes and Cactus depicted in pots of different designs, and the folding plates of gourds” (Dunthorne).

Of great descriptive quality, of a certain delicacy of execution and a great freshness of colouring this set of very fine coloured plates forms one of the widest and most attractive herbarium from the 18^th century.

Wonderful volumes with very large margins, preserved in their elegant contemporary binding in red morocco, condition of the utmost rarity for this sought-after herbarium.