![HERBARIUM, 17th century. - Herbarium with manuscript captions and title 'Herbarium Vivum Exhibens 300 Exemplarium. Juxta Indicem in fine hujus [sic.] libri A J.B.' and on front pastedown '1658 In Dantzigk'. (?)Danzig: (?)1658.](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2003/CKS/2003_CKS_06824_0021_000(064220).jpg?w=1)
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HERBARIUM, 17th century. - Herbarium with manuscript captions and title 'Herbarium Vivum Exhibens 300 Exemplarium. Juxta Indicem in fine hujus [sic.] libri A J.B.' and on front pastedown '1658 In Dantzigk'. (?)Danzig: (?)1658.
2° (300 x 195mm). Manuscript title, mounted specimens of 315 species or varieties on 110 leaves, numbered from 1-110, each specimen with accompanying manuscript caption in Latin, and a few notes in Dutch, 5pp. manuscript index, 3 blank leaves. (Title creased and repaired on verso, lacking or largely lacking specimens of 10 species, some worming.) Bound within late-16th or early-17th century binding of panelled calf over wooden boards (clasps defective, spine repaired, stitching re-sewn, front pastedown with section removed to reveal a portion of earlier pastedown beneath). Provenance: Arpad Plesch (booklabel, sale Sotheby's 31 March 1980, lot 146).
A VERY RARE 17TH-CENTURY HERBARIUM. The apparent insertion of the body of the herbarium within an earlier binding throws some doubt on the date 1658 and Danzig as the origin for this collection. However, a mid- to late-17th century date is still supported by the hand-writing, and, following a careful examination in 1995, Henry Noltie of the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, noted that 'From the names used in the Herbarium, there is... no positive evidence that any of the specimens were incorporated after 1700. The condition of the specimens also compares with similar seventeenth century herbaria in the British Museum (Natural History)'. The paper appears to from a single source with watermark of a serpent coiled around the spire of a chapel and a 'PL' countermark.
The captioning includes writing from at least two different hands, but there is no internal evidence to support the Plesch attribution to Wilhelm Ten Rhyne. The 'J.B.' initials on the title could be either Jakob Breyn (1637-1697) or Johann Breyn (1680-1764), but this also lacks any internal supporting evidence.
2° (300 x 195mm). Manuscript title, mounted specimens of 315 species or varieties on 110 leaves, numbered from 1-110, each specimen with accompanying manuscript caption in Latin, and a few notes in Dutch, 5pp. manuscript index, 3 blank leaves. (Title creased and repaired on verso, lacking or largely lacking specimens of 10 species, some worming.) Bound within late-16th or early-17th century binding of panelled calf over wooden boards (clasps defective, spine repaired, stitching re-sewn, front pastedown with section removed to reveal a portion of earlier pastedown beneath). Provenance: Arpad Plesch (booklabel, sale Sotheby's 31 March 1980, lot 146).
A VERY RARE 17TH-CENTURY HERBARIUM. The apparent insertion of the body of the herbarium within an earlier binding throws some doubt on the date 1658 and Danzig as the origin for this collection. However, a mid- to late-17th century date is still supported by the hand-writing, and, following a careful examination in 1995, Henry Noltie of the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, noted that 'From the names used in the Herbarium, there is... no positive evidence that any of the specimens were incorporated after 1700. The condition of the specimens also compares with similar seventeenth century herbaria in the British Museum (Natural History)'. The paper appears to from a single source with watermark of a serpent coiled around the spire of a chapel and a 'PL' countermark.
The captioning includes writing from at least two different hands, but there is no internal evidence to support the Plesch attribution to Wilhelm Ten Rhyne. The 'J.B.' initials on the title could be either Jakob Breyn (1637-1697) or Johann Breyn (1680-1764), but this also lacks any internal supporting evidence.
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