Basilus Besler (1561-1629)

The Nuremberg apothecary Basilius Besler was commissioned in 1606-07 by the Prince Bishop Johann Konrad von Gemmingen of Eichstät (d.1612) to produce copperplate engravings of his pleasure gardens at Willibaldsburg near Eichstatt.  Besler divided the work into four seasons and orders and depicted plants in full bloom.
In 1613, a year after the Prince Bishop’s death, Besler presented an uncolored copy of the Hortus Eysttettensis, or the Garten von Eichstätt as it is commonly known, to the City Council.  Most of the original copperplates from the Hortus Eysttettensis entered the Hapbsburg collections in the 19^th century and were recently discovered (1998) in the Graphic Collection of the Albertina Museum, Vienna; see H. Walter Lack, Garden Eden Masterpieces of botanical illustration, Köln: Taschen, pp. 82-91.

Cf. two Besler copperplate engravings sold in these rooms, The Collection of Mrs. Douglas Auchincloss, October 20-21, 2003, lot 438 ($11,000).