Scopoli (first edition) - Flora Carniolica - 1760

Scopoli Giovanni Antonio

Flora Carniolica exhibiting indigenous plants of Carniola

Vienna - 1760 -
Sumptibus Joannis Thomae Trattner

(22), 607, (1b) p.
In 4o - 20.5 X 13 cm. -

RARISSIMA FIRST EDITION OF SCOPOLI'S WORK, CONTAINING AN ACCURATE AND DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE NATIVE PLANTS OF THE CARNIOLA REGION, AN ANCIENT AUSTRIAN PROVINCE, NOW SLOVENIA.

A copy enriched by a splendid contemporary full leather binding, perfectly preserved.

More than 1500 plants of Carniola and neighboring regions are described, of which over 100 were determined for the first time.
To the author's name the genus “Scopolia” was dedicated.

Giovanni Antonio Scopoli (1723-1788), born in Trento, pursued a brilliant career as physician and naturalist in Austria, where his works earned him the nickname “Linnaeus of the Austrian Empire,” in honor of the famous Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus.
Scopoli spent much of his career in the Alps, where he collected plant and insect specimens.
In 1754 he was appointed physician to the mercury mines of Idrija, in the province of Carniola (today Slovenia), where he remained until 1769.
During his time at Idrija, he began studying the natural history of the area, and in 1760 he published the “Flora Carniolica” (here presented in the rare first edition), a work describing the botany of the region.

Wonderful contemporary full leather binding, with rich and elaborate gilded decorations on the five-railed spine, bearing a beige morocco inlay in a decorative frame, containing the title and author, all gold-tooled. Perfect condition.

Excellent interior condition as well, with fresh, compact, and clean sheets.
Only a physiological browning of the pages is noted.
Text nevertheless perfectly legible.
A beautiful untrimmed frontispiece illustration, plus elegant vignettes at the introductory leaves.
Some marginal notes, by a contemporary hand, preserved on loose sheets within the text.
Bookmark present.
Originally decorated endpapers.
Originally sprinkled edges with minium.
Original flyleaves preserved.

Excellent museum copy, complete and original in every part.
BOUND. COMPLETE