A pair of copper engravings from the 17th century in color. Excellent condition. Large Margins. Text on reverse. Professionally framed in old walnut and parcel gilt frames.

One of an extremely rare collection of botanicals from Basilius Besler's Hortus Eystettensis. Besler was a Nuremburg apothecary in charge of the elaborate garden of the Bishop Prince of Eisenstatt. The plates illustrating more than a thousand flowers was published in 1613. When this book was published, it was the largest book ever printed and the colored plates sold for ten times the price of the black and white.
These prints have been studied at length by Nicholas Barker, who concluded, "I believe these plates to come from a copy colored according to the original exemplar (that is, before the use of written instructions), probably before the middle of the 17th century.