Horti Medici

2 parts in 1 folio volume of: (12) ff., 220 pp. and 110 full-page plates numbered 112 (3 plants on the same plate), (8) ff., 224 pp., (2) ff. of index, 113 full-page plates numbered 112 (there are 2 plates numbered 4), pp. 191-198 bound by mistake after p. 206, 2 ff. with orange pencil erasures. A total of 2 frontispieces, 3 leaves with coats of arms and 224 figures on 223 full-page plates, all hand-colored at the time. Marbled brown calf, triple gilt fillet framing the boards, raised band spine renewed in the 19th century, gilt roll inside, marbled edges.

400 x 253 mm.

First edition and first printing of the famous “Arpad Plesch” copy,

one of the extremely rare examples whose 228 plates were hand-colored at the time, from J. Commelin’s Hortus medicus.

Amsterdam, 1697-1701.

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Commelin, Johannes and Casparus. Horti Medici Amstelodamensis rariorum Tam Orientalis, quam Occidentalis Indiae, aliarumque Peregrinarum plantarum.Amstelodami, P. & J. Blaeu, Abraham van Someren, 1697-1701.

First edition and first printing Nissen 389; Pritzel 1833; Hunt 399; Graesse, Trésor de livres rares, 236; Brunet, II, 185; Plesch 145; De Belder 80.

The famous Arpad Plesch copy, one of the extremely rare examples entirely colored at the time.

“We are in possession of another copy of this work in which the plates and tailpieces were colored at the time of publication” (Mille et un livres botaniques de la collection Arpad Plesch, p. 181).

Jean Commelin, a famous Dutch botanist, born in Amsterdam in 1629, honorably served as alderman in his native city, and was devoted to the study of plants when the magistrates, having resolved to use the grounds of the old botanical garden for the city’s expansion, appointed Jean Commelin, together with Jean Huidekoper, lord of Marseveen and Neerdyk, to direct the creation of the new one.

The work was carried out with such vigor under their leadership that, despite the land’s difficulties—being marshy—the garden became, in less than four years, an object of admiration due to the great number of plants it contained, and was considered the richest in Europe, especially in exotic plants. Commelin did not limit his contributions to the establishment of this institution, so useful for botany; he spared neither effort nor expense to make known to scholars the treasures it sheltered, and he devoted the last twenty years of his life to composing fine works, which greatly advanced the science. He died in Amsterdam in 1692. His nephew, Caspar Commelin, succeeded him in his professorial duties.

"The first volume, on the plants of the East and West Indies, was Jan Commelin’s most important contribution to botanical knowledge; it was brought out posthumously by his nephew Caspar. The second volume was by Caspar Commelin and contained an enlargement on some of the notes in Jan's book, with further notes on African plants" (Hunt).

The introduction into the Netherlands of plants from the East Indies, West Indies, and South Africa was the result of exchanges conducted by the Dutch East India Company.

“The first part of this work was published in 1697 as one folio volume, containing one hundred and twelve plates, with Descriptions & Notes. This second part, printed in 1701, is a second volume of the same size and thickness as the first. Both volumes contain the same number of Plates & Descriptions. Each plate occupies a page and shows, at their actual size, the leaves, flowers, and seeds of the plant it represents. The leaf following each plate is divided into two columns: the first contains text in Latin, the other in Dutch, with a simple and natural account of the plant, described as briefly as possible, showing the locations where it grows, the seasons in which it flowers, how it should be cultivated, and its properties. The Latin account is a translation from the Dutch. This translation, which is very clear and elegant, was done by Mr. Ruisch, Professor of Botany, & Mr. Kiggelarius. The author of the first part of the work is the late Mr. Jean Commelin,

Senator of Amsterdam; that of the second is Mr. Gaspar Commelin, his nephew, Doctor of Medicine & Professor of Botany at the Amsterdam Physic Garden. These two volumes are printed in such fine type, and adorned with such exquisite plates, that nothing is lacking to make this work both attractive and useful. The city of Amsterdam bore the cost of this splendid publication." (Journal des Scavans, 1703, pp. 303-304).

“The fine plates, beautifully engraved” (Dunthorne) depict plants from Africa, the Indies, and America, most of which had been acclimated in the Amsterdam Botanical Garden.

Aloes, asters, foxgloves, bellflowers, scabious, squills, daffodils, hyacinths, sedum, valerian, rockroses, pineapples, arum, lilies… are all depicted with both precision and elegance, engraved from the drawings of Johann and Maria Monincks.

According to Nissen, some of the engravings may have been made from the drawings of Johanna Herolt, the daughter of Maria Sibylla Merian.

Famous and precious copyArpad Plesch.