Johann Simon Kerner | Hortus sempervirens [with Genera plantarum], together 63 vols (of 73)

Johann Simon Kerner

Botanical works, comprising:

Hortus sempervirens, exhibens icones plantarum selectiorum, quot quot ad vivorum exemplorum normam reddere licuit. Stuttgart: Typis Academiae Carolinae, 1795-1826

Genera plantarum, selectarum specierum iconibus illustrata. Stuttgart: J.F. Steinkopf for the author, 1811-1825

i) Hortus sempervirens, 53 (of 71) volumes (lacking vols 11-20 and vols 64-71), large folio (645 x 472mm.), ORIGINAL WATERCOLOUR PLATES, with pen and ink, over pencil sketching, some folded, by Kerner after Pierre-Joseph Redouté and others, contemporary morocco edged boards, many covers with a central illustration, spines with raised bands in nine compartments, green morocco labels in third compartments, yellow edges, yellow endpapers, some light spotting, extremities slightly rubbed

ii) Genera plantarum, 50 fascicles in 10 volumes, large folio (792 x 410mm.), ORIGINAL WATERCOLOUR PLATES, plain engraved title and additional hand-coloured engraved title in each volume, contemporary morocco-edged boards, leaves uncut, spotting, extremities rubbed

ii) Genera plantarum, 50 fascicles in 10 volumes, large folio (792 x 410mm.), ORIGINAL WATERCOLOUR PLATES, plain engraved title and additional hand-coloured engraved title in each volume, contemporary morocco-edged boards, leaves uncut, spotting, extremities rubbed

A rare set of Kerner's hand-painted watercolours, with only one complete set of the 71 volumes known, at the Library of the Academie de France, sold alongside his Genera Plantarum, likewise containing original watercolours by the author. Kerner (1755-1830) was a German botanist famed for his fine botanical illustrations, notably apparent in these contemporary works. 

PROVENANCE:

Habsburg Fideikommiss-Bibliothek, Vienna, “FID. C” stamp; [to National Library of Vienna]; National Library of Vienna sold duplicate stamp dated 15.1.1949 (for both Francis I of Austria F1 stamp and National Library of Vienna sold duplicate stamp, cf: Fairhaven Part I, Sotheby's, 18 May 2022, lot 111)