ORIGINAL COLOURED ENGRAVING - Dipsacus sylvestris; Dipsacus pratensis; - Plate No. 465 from Phytanthoza Iconographia

Regensburg, 1734. Print. Very Good. n/a. First Edition. Folio. A fine original mezzotint line engraved plate printed in colour and hand finished; this is plate No. 465 from Weinmann's magnum opus "Phytanthoza Iconographia" published in Regensburg (Germany) between the years 1734 & 1745 Overall plate size: 25 x 40cm. (9.75 x 15.75 inches). Most of this series was printed in colour and hand finished, and is one of the earliest examples of colour printing. It is also the first published collection to include the work of George Ehret, one of the most important botanical artists of the 18th century, some plates also by N. Asamin, a talented young female artist, though The initial S at lower right corner of this plate indicates the artist engraver Abraham Seutter (C. 1690-1747). The work was based on Weinmann's collection of plants and was financed by him. Weinmann's work is highly valued for the highly ornamental plates of undoubted artistic standard; additionally the plates represent a valuable record of the "classification" of the plant kingdom as it was understood in the early 18th century before the introduction of Linnaeus' revolutionary binomial system of classification. This plate is in very good condition, with slight toning only. (References: Dunthorne 327; cf. Great Flower Books (1990) p.151; cf. Johnston Cleveland Collections 388; cf. Nissen BBI 2126; cf. Stafleu & Cowan TL2 17.050.) (Please Note: we do not break books for plates. Our plates have either been purchased loose or have come from books that are so defective or incomplete that they are irreparable).