Saturday, March 14, 2009

What Inspires Me? The Book of Plants - The Complete Plates

What inspires me?


What makes my heart ....



...and creative spirit...






...want to make a new paper cut sculpture?



TASCHEN 25 - Special edition!A magnificent pictorial document of the flowers grown in the greatest German garden of its time, the Book of Plants is in a class of its own when it comes to the variety and range of flowers engraved. Working under Basilius Besler, a team of at least ten engravers worked on this massive project, translating in situ and specimen drawings faithfully to copper plates.


Nearly four hundred years old, the book has survived though the gardens did not; they were destroyed by invading Swedish troops in 1634. However, in 1998 a reconstruction of the original garden opened to the public in Eichstätt. This facsimile's reproductions - structured by seasons - are taken from a hand-painted edition, one of only a few still extant.

In auction, the asking price for a first edition copy is half a million dollars. You can now enjoy its unique qualities for somewhat less.


About the authors:Prof. Dr. Werner Dressendörfer, pharmaceutical historian and lecturer at the university of Erlangen, is currently conducting research into the history of medicinal plants from a socio-cultural viewpoint. He has authored numerous pharmaceutical publications and scientific papers on the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance.


Klaus Walter Littger is head of the manuscript department at Eichstätt University Library. In addition to essays on German language and literature, he has published a number of papers on the history of the University of Eichstätt and the history of music at Eichstätt. He is editor of a periodical and a series of publications on the history of Eichstätt.

8 comments:

Artsnark said...

I was drooling over this book earlier this week - really amazing!

Have you looked through Alberta Seba's Cabinet of Natural Curiosities? Possibly my favorite nature book

Judy said...

What an interesting post and an amazing book.

Unknown said...

HOla Donna que interesante bellisimo... un besito y linda semana!!

Creations by Marie Antoinette and Edie Marie said...

Of course everything you do or make is kool.Can't stop talent like yours.Very interesting book.XXOO Marie Antionette

GratefulPrayerThankfulHeart said...

Beautiful illustrations and interesting post. Thank you!

Renee said...

This book looks so fantastic.

xoxoxo

Anne Marie said...

to have a book as beautiful as that and not be able to (at least I couldn't do it) take them and frame them all is torture....
I once saw the original life size book of John James Audubon's Birds...it was just brilliantly inspiring to me....

viagra online said...

Helloo..Did not have much knowledge about this fascinating subject but I think your work in such plants, but I think they could leverage and innovate my garden with a few of them.!!!