Jacquin, Nikolaus Joseph von

Large folio (20 1/4 x 13 3/4 in.; 513 x 351 mm). Binding: Contemporary diced calf, covers with a border of floral roll-tools in gilt and blind, smooth spine gilt-paneled in seven compartments with floral and classical motifs, marbled endpapers, gilt edges, board edges gilt. Provenance: 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 180) — Ladislaus von Hoffmann (Christie's New York, 4 June 1997, "An Important Botanical Library, The Property of a Gentleman," lot 81).

Some occasional spotting or soiling, chiefly marginal, plates 1 and 103 with a small light marginal stain, plates 28 and 87 with minor surface abrasion, small hole to plate 120 not affecting image. Superbly rebacked, further restoration to foot of front joint, other joints just cracking at head and foot, a little bit scuffed.

Dunthorne 158; Great Flower Books, p. 105; Nissen 972; Plesch sale 394; Pritzel 4372; Stafleu & Cowan TL2 3256; not in Cleveland Collections or Hunt

Some occasional spotting or soiling, chiefly marginal, plates 1 and 103 with a small light marginal stain, plates 28 and 87 with minor surface abrasion, small hole to plate 120 not affecting image. Superbly rebacked, further restoration to foot of front joint, other joints just cracking at head and foot, a little bit scuffed.
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.

Fragmenta Botanica contains some of the most magnificent of Jacquin's plates; the engravings are unsigned but are very much in the "house" style of the band of artists and engravers that Jacquin gathered around him; probably the majority of the illustrations here are the work of Johann Scharf, Martin Sedelmayer, and Johann Knapp. Many of the plants depicted are recent arrivals to the Schönbrunn greenhouses, the result of the collecting efforts in South Africa of Franz Boos and Georg Schall (see preceding lot). It seems not to have been noted previously that a very few of the engravings were printed in color: that is, not color-printed but printed in outline with colored ink. For instance, plate 10, Mimosa fastuosa, is printed in rust-red, and plate 121, Dinebra Arabica/Chloris ciliata, is printed in green.  The work is devoted to new additions to the Schönbrunn gardens, many South African, recently sent up from the Cape by Boos and Schall, the two royal gardeners who had been dispatched there to collect specimens after the disastrous frost of 1780.

Dedicated to Sir Joseph Banks, Fragmenta Botanica was originally published in six fascicles. The Allen copy—evidently the only copy to appear at auction since the Arpad Plesch sale in 1975—seems to have been bound from the original parts. Fragments of the publisher's wrapper are adhered to the inner margin of the title-page, and the text is in an early, uncorrected state: H4 is a variant setting, with the same pagination, of the text on H2; the leaf should have been cancelled but survives in this copy.  illustration: 136 fine handcolored engraved plates and 2 uncolored engraved plates (numbered 1–138; 6 full-sheet or folding) after and by Jacquin's atelier. A few plates printed on blue-tinted paper.