DILLENIUS, Johann Jakob Hortus Elthamensis seu plantarum rariorum quas in horto suo Elthami in Cantio coluit... Jacobus Sherard... Delineationes et descriptiones quarum historia vel plane non, vel imperfecte a rei herbariae scriptoribus tradita fuit... London, sumptibus auctoris, 1732
2 vols, folio (445 x 280 mm), pp. viii 206; [ii] 207-437 [1], with 325 etched plates; first two leaves of second volume with some slight staining in lower corner, a fine copy in contemporary mottled calf, richly gilt ornamented spines in six compartments, with red and green labels. £11,000 First edition of Ôthe most important book to be published in England during the eighteenth century on the plants growing in a private gardenÕ (Henrey) and a major work for the pre-Linnaean taxonomy of South African plants. ÔJohann Jacob Dillenius (originally Dillen) (1684-1747) [was] a German botanist from Darmstadt, who was brought to England in 1721 by William Sherard to help with the latterÕs projected revision of Caspar BauhinÕs Pinax of 1623... About this time, William SherardÕs brother James, who had a flourishing medical practice in London, purchased a country estate at Eltham in Kent. William spent a good deal of time on the property and, assisted by Dillenius, built it up into one of the leading gardens in England. When William died in 1728 he endowed a chair of botany at Oxford with the proviso that Dillenius should be the first incumbent. He also left his herbarium, library and manuscripts to the University. ÔAt the insistence of James Sherard, Dillenius embarked on an account of the more interesting plants growing at Eltham, with the result that he did not take up residence at Oxford until 1734. The resulting Hortus Elthamensis, London 1732, appeared in two handsome folio volumes with 324 [sic; 325 is in fact the correct number] plates drawn and engraved with great fidelity by Dillenius himself. Their superb quality may be seen from the two examples reproduced herewith. Many South African plants are illustrated, particularly succulents, including an almost complete coverage of the Mesembryanthemums then known in cultivation. The illustrations are important in typifying many Linnaean names and, unlike Bradley, Dillenius made herbarium specimens, which are preserved in the herbarium of the Botany Department, OxfordÕ (Gunn and Codd, Botanical exploration of Southern Africa, pp. 63-4). Two hundred and fifty copies of this work were printed. DilleniusÕ name was memorialised by Linnaeus in the genus Dillenia, a genus of Australian and Asian evergreen trees. Henrey 643; Great flower books p 55; Johnston 374; Nissen BBI 492; Stafleu and Cowan TL2 1471
£11000
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