Johann Jakob Scheuchzer - Agrostographia - Agrostology [1st Edition, Botany, Science, Edible Plants, Cereals, Grasses, Maize, - 1719

1719 FIRST EDITION ON BOTANY, SCIENCE, EDIBLE PLANTS, CEREALS, GRASSES, SEDGES, MAIZE, RICE, WHEAT, OATS, LIVESTOCK AND POULTRY FEED by Johann Jakob Scheuchzer (1672–1733) was a Swiss physician and natural scientist born in Zürich. This work "Agrostographia" was a landmark pre-Linnaean study of modern agrostology—the botanical study of grasses and grass-like plants. This research is richly illustrated with 19 engraved copperplates; 11 full-page plates plus 8 big folding plates; size height 210 x width 340mm or 8.3 by 13.4 inches. The copperplates are celebrated for their scientific fidelity rather than mere ornamentation. Each plate illustrates the complete habitus of several species alongside magnified dissections of florets, spikelets, and seed structures. Since grasses provide the majority of staple calories for human nutrition, Scheuchzer describes in detail the anatomy of the flowers, seeds, and all varieties of each species of the major cultivated grasses, such as: Wheat, common bread wheat, spelt, emmer/rivet wheat. Rye (Secale cereale). Barley (Hordeum spp.), standard European staples for flatbread, brewing, and gruel. Oats (Avena sativa): grown widely in Europe for porridge, animal feed, and meal. Rice (Oryza sativa). Millets (Panicum miliaceum & Setaria italica): documents broomcorn millet and Italian foxtail millet. Maize (Zea mays). Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), cultivated in Southern Europe for both grain and syrup. Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum):classified under Arundo saccharifera (the "sugar reed"), Scheuchzer details the fibrous, jointed stems from which sweet juice was pressed and processed into cane sugar and molasses. Tiger Nut / Chufa (Cyperus esculentus), this sedge is cultivated for its small, sweet subterranean tubers, which have been eaten raw, roasted, or ground since antiquity. Wild Foraged Grains like Floating Sweet-Grass / Manna Grass (Glyceria fluitans) its sweet-tasting seeds were gathered widely across Europe. Original full-leather binding from the period, richly decorated and in excellent condition. COMPLETE FIRST EDITION.

THE 1775 SECOND EDITION is on sale at US$ 1,700.00 https://biblio.co.uk/details.php?dcx=1307372649, while the first edition, in excellent condition and complete, is offered to you at a fraction of that price. When Carl Linnaeus published Species Plantarum in 1753—the starting point of modern botanical nomenclature—he relied extensively on Scheuchzer’s descriptions. Many Linnaean species descriptions in Gramineae and Cyperaceae cite Agrostographia as the definitive diagnostic authority. Prior to this publication, early modern herbalists and naturalists largely ignored or misclassified graminoids. Because grasses possess reduced, wind-pollinated florets lacking petals, standard classification systems based on floral corollas could not adequately categorize them. Scheuchzer's 1719 treatise established the first systematic anatomical taxonomy for the group, creating the standard descriptive vocabulary that shaped eighteenth-century botany. The vast majority of the wild and cultivated species cataloged in Johann Scheuchzer's Agrostographia form the historic foundation of European pastoral farming, hay production, and domestic animal nutrition. Because Scheuchzer was documenting Central European and Alpine flora, his classifications captured the primary grasses eaten by grazing livestock and poultry. Johann Scheuchzer’s 1719 Agrostographia transformed botany by establishing agrostology as an independent, rigorous scientific subdiscipline and solving one of the most stubborn taxonomic dilemmas of early modern botany: how to classify petal-less, wind-pollinated monocots.

TITLE: Agrostographia sive graminum, juncorum, cyperorum, cyperoidum, iisque affinium historia...(Agrostographia, or a history of grasses, rushes, sedges, sedge-like plants, and those related to them...)
AUTHORS: Johann Jakob Scheuchzer (1672–1733) and illustrated by David Herrliberger, Johann Melchior Füssli, and Johann Heinrich Huber
PUBLISHER: Typis & Sumptibus Bodmerianis (Heinrich Bodmer)
DATE: 1719, printed in Tiguri (Zurich), text in Latin

DESCRIPTION: 1 volume in 4°, size height 210 x width 174 mm or 8.3 by 6.9 inches. [40] preliminary leaves, 512 numbered pages, [24] index leaves, illustrated with 19 engraved copperplates; 11 full-page plates plus 8 big folding plates; size height 210 x width 340mm or 8.3 by 13.4 inches, complete edition. Antique full-leather binding, spine decorated with gilt titles and ornaments; red edges. There are minor imperfections here and there, but the binding is solid and fully functional—free of tears, losses, cracks, or structural damage—and has been professionally restored; it is in excellent condition, as shown in the photos. Good quality printing and paper; title page in red and black, pages are intact with original margins and free of damage, cuts, or tears, minor. Typical old paper small imperfections, with occasional small spots or oxidation. The former owner, a scholar, made various annotations in the white margins of the pages and on some illustrations; however, they are all in pencil and can therefore be erased if desired. The pages are clean, bright, and printed on high-quality paper. COMPLETE FIRST EDITION.

REFERENCES: WORLD CAT n°5953533; Cleveland Collections, 343; Nissen ZBI 1751; Pritzel 8174; Bibl. Caldesi 117; Stafleu & Cowan, 10.576.

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