ALDINI, Tobia [and Pietro CASTELLI] Exactissima descriptio rariorum quarundam plantarum, quae continentur Romae in Horto Farnesiano... Rome, Giacomo Mascardi the Elder, 1625
Folio (298 x 210 mm), pp [xii] 100 [8], with engraved title, 22 engraved plates in text, and 6 woodcut illustrations; some occasional spotting and slight browning as usual, a very good copy in contemporary limp vellum. £3250
First edition of this attractive catalogue of rare plants in the Farnese gardens, situated on the Palatine Hill in Rome, of which Aldini was curator. 'Aldini presents various rare plants from the unique collection of the Farnese family, which due to its close ties with the Jesuit Order, frequently obtained seeds and specimens of exotic plants from priests returning to Rome after long periods abroad. The enthusiasm with which these plants were received in Rome during the first decades of the seventeenth century is well documented: new species were avidly sought after and grown in private gardens, constituting objects of prestige to be vaunted in cultivated circles.
'Exactissima descriptio is divided into sixteen chapters, each one of which is devoted to a particular plant. A complete description of the plant, as well as details concerning its medicinal and culinary properties, are provided, while elegantly engraved plates aid the reader to grasp its salient characteristics... Although the name of the artist who made the preparatory drawings for this work is not known, the engraver can be identified as the same artist who signed the frontispiece, Luca Ciamberlano (1586-1641), then working in Rome as an engraver of religious, classical and allegorical subjects and as a designer of frontispieces. It is known that Castelli was an accomplished draughtsman with regard to plants, and it is quite possible that he was responsible for these high-quality plates...' (Tongiorgi-Tomasi).
Among plants illustrated is an 'Acacia farnesiana' or cassia from San Domingo, a passion-flower from Peru, an amaryllis, and a Yucca gloriosa which had been brought from Canada, depicted in flower in a pot.
The authorship of this work has been debated. The title states that Aldini of Cesena and curator of the gardens was author. However, the dedicatory poem contains an acrostic hiding the name 'Petrus Castellus Romanus' and the printer's address to the reader contains the same acrostic (without Romanus) followed by the phrase 'In gratiam Tobiae Aldini scripsi cuncta' in capitals which seems to be Castelli's acknowledgement of Aldini's help in writing the work. (The present copy has the acrostic letters in the address underlined by a contemporary hand). Castelli (1570-1657) was professor of botany at the University of Rome, and the founder of Messina's botanical garden.
Hunt 208; Johnston 172; Nissen BBI 13; Tongiorgi-Tomasi 28
£3250
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