Lot 27
  • 27

Jacquin, Nikolaus Joseph von

Estimate
180,000 - 250,000 USD
bidding is closed

Description

  • Plantarum rariorum horti Caesarei Schönbrunnensis descriptiones et icones. Vienna: Printed for Christian Friedrich Wappler; London: B. & J. White; Leiden: S. & J. Luchtmans, 1797–1804
  • paper, ink, leather
Plate list in each vol., cumulative index of plates in vol. 4. Illustration: 500 fine engraved plates (numbered 1–500; 10 full-sheet or folding) after Johann Scharf, Franz von Scheidel, and Martin Sedelmayer.

4 volumes, folio (18 3/8 x 12 5/8 in.; 465 x 322 mm). Binding: Contemporary tree calf, covers with gilt border of Greek key and floral-ribbon roll tools, smooth spines gilt-panelled in seven compartments with classical motifs and red and green morocco labels, marbled endpapers, gilt edges, turn-ins and board edges gilt. Provenance:  Stiftsbibliothek Lilienfeld, Lilienfeld, Austria (small blindstamp, lightly effaced, at head of each title-page [unremarked in the De Belder and von Hoffmann catalogues]) — sold at Sotheby's London, 10 April 1967, lot 230 ("The Property of a Lady") — Robert de Belder (Sotheby's London, 27 April 1987, lot 182) — Ladislaus von Hoffmann (Christie's New York, 4 June 1997, "An Important Botanical Library, The Property of a Gentleman," lot 80).



Folding plates 1 and 495 with short marginal tears not affecting image, small stain to plate 200 just touching image, slight surface abrasion to folding plate 423, light marginal dampstain to plates 399 & 400. Binding rubbed and scraped with some patches of surface loss, head of spine of vol. 3 repaired, some restoration to joints.

Literature

Blunt, pp. 171–172; Dunthorne 156; Great Flower Books, p. 105; Lank 43; Nissen 978; Pritzel 4372; Stafleu & Cowan TL2 3255; not in the Plesch sale

Condition

Folding plates 1 and 495 with short marginal tears not affecting image, small stain to plate 200 just touching image, slight surface abrasion to folding plate 423, light marginal dampstain to plates 399 & 400. Binding rubbed and scraped with some patches of surface loss, head of spine of vol. 3 repaired, some restoration to joints.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

First edition, with distinguished provenance, of “Jacquin’s greatest work on cultivated flowers” (Blunt). 

"'It is therefore to be considered as a botanical treasure chamber, as a truly imperial repository of living plants, which flourishes most splendidly under … the scientific leadership of the master of the great botanists of Europe, Nikolaus von Jacquin,' wrote a traveler in 1805 about the Royal Dutch Garden at Schönbrunn near Vienna. The piece of land that had been acquired by the Emperor Francis I Stephan in 1753 was extended by his son, Emperor Joseph II. Rarities from the entire known world grew in the famous glasshouses. … On the instructions of Emperor Leopold II, the younger brother of Joseph II, Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin, the Professor of Chemistry and Botany at the University of Vienna, produced a magnificent, abundantly illustrated work on the plants cultivated in the garden. Publication, however, came only later, under Emperor Francis II," to whom the work is dedicated (Lank).

All of the rare and exotic plants depicted in Plantarum rariorum were grown in the Schönbrunn botanical garden, including some of the specimens that Jacquin had first collected in the Caribbean. But many of the plants illustrated are South African in origin: In the winter of 1780 a severe frost destroyed many of the tropical and subtropical plants in the royal greenhouses, and two Schönbrunn gardeners, Franz Boos and Georg Schall, were sent to Mauritius and South Africa to collect new examples. Schall remained at the Cape for twelve years, regularly dispatching indigenous plants, bulbs, and seeds back to Vienna. These new introductions account for the predominance of South African flora in Plantarum rariorum.

The highly finished plates are after Johann Scharf, Franz von Scheidel, and Martin Sedelmayer. Jacquin believed he had found a replacement for Franz and Ferdinand Bauer when Scharf developed into a skillful draftsman after receiving training in botany and microscopy. But Scharf died of tuberculosis in 1794, at the age of 29, having completed fewer than half of the drawings for this catalogue of the Schönbrunn gardens. After his death, the work was completed by the prolific von Scheidel and by Sedelmayer, who had previously worked with Jacquin as a colorist. 

Rare: this is number 68 of an edition of fewer than 200 copies, virtually all reserved for presentation by the court of Francis II (who, after founding the Austrian Empire and dissolving the Holy Roman Empire, later ruled as Francis I). Only one other complete set has sold at auction since this copy was sold in the von Hoffmann auction twenty years ago.