5 xilografie di orchidee - 1597

We propose 2 sheets with a total of 5 wood engravings dedicated to the orchids drawn for The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes by John Gerard in its first edition of 1597.

Gerard was the most prestigious plant scholar in English circles, alongside William Turner (c. 1508–c. 1568) and John Parkinson (1567–1650); a keen observer, gardener and enthusiastic collector, skilled and brilliant in writing, John Gerard was in fact a barber-surgeon, but he will go down in history as a botanist by virtue of this work.

The 2 sheets are in excellent condition with only a slight marginal browning and 2 stains on sheet 226. Beside the Latin name of the orchids is the English one; in fact, as nomenclature was still far from settled, these are not scientific names, but common Latin names with the English translation.

The first sheet bears 2 orchids: Serapias Dracontias palustris and Serapias palustris leptophylla altera. They are very similar orchids which, as the specification "palustris" suggests, prefer damp places, boggy woodland and meadow. They have dense flowering spikes and lanceolate leaves with veins.

The second sheet provides space for Cynosorchis Morio male and Cynosorchis Morio female on one line, and Cynosorchis minor Pannonica on the other. The Cynosorchis are small and graceful orchids very common in Italy, where the name refers to the shape of the two tubers of the roots that resemble the dog’s testicles; the Pannonica variant obviously refers to its distribution in the ancient region of Pannonia.

All five wood engravings feature an old, delicate color scheme.

Careful and prompt dispatch.