Basil Besler (1591-1629) was an apothecary and
botanist from Nuremberg, who managed the gardens
of Prince-Bishop Johann Conrad von Gemmingen (approx. 1561-1612) in Eichstatt, Bavaria.
The Prince-Bishop’s remarkable garden was one of the most extensive in Europe,
containing a huge variety of European shrubs and flowering plants as well as
exotic specimens from Asia and the Americas. Besler was commissioned
by the Prince-Bishop to compile a codex of the plans in his garden. This encyclopedic
resource became the basis for the Hortus
Eystettensis (Garden at Eichstätt) which took sixteen years to complete
(the Biship died shortly before printing) and was published in 1613 by Basil Besler and Ludwig Jungermann. The work
contains 1086 illustrations of plants from 367 copperplate engravings, most of
which were depicted in their natural size. The copperplates were engraved by a
group of skilled German draughtsmen and artists including Wolfgang Kilian,
Dominicus Custos, and Levin and Friedrich van Hulsen and according to the
oversight and drawings by Basilius Besler. The accompanying descriptive text
was written primarily by botanist Ludwig Jungermann (1572–1653).
Published one hundred and fifty years before Linnaeus
created his thorough system of classification, Besler’s great florilegium
represents an impressive early attempt to classify plants for the benefit of
botanists, doctors, and apothecaries. Each plant is given a distinct and often
descriptive Latin title, and related species are grouped together on the same
plate, or over a series of plates. Almost all specimens are shown complete and
accurately colored, including delineations of their root systems. While
Besler’s work is obviously motivated by a scientific impulse to document and
describe a remarkable collection of species, the beautiful presentation and
dramatic stylization of the illustrations also convey a sense of the visual
grandeur of the Bishop’s great garden. Each specimen is placed on the page with
an artist’s understanding of formal and spatial relations. Most notably, the
stylized depiction of foliage and root systems betrays a lively baroque
sensibility, as the plants seem to dance across the page.
Basil Besler’s great botanical work is a landmark of
botanical documentation and pre-Linnaean classification, as well as one of the
most splendidly stylized and aesthetically powerful botanical works ever
produced.
The work was published twice more in Nuremberg in 1640 and 1713, using the same
plates, plates which were destroyed by the Royal Mint of Munich in 1817.
Sadly, the original Eichstatt gardens were sacked by
invading Swedish troops under Herzog Bernhard von Weimar in 1633-4; however
reconstructed gardens were opened to the public in 1998.
French botanist Charles Plumier honored Besler posthumously
by naming a climbing bush Beseleria.
These illustrations of various flowers are among the
most dramatic and desirable of Besler’s illustrations. Each is in excellent
condition, and would represent wonderful additions to any collection of
European botanical art. Please contact Arader Galleries for further information.
