BRUNFELS, Otto (ca. 1489-1534) - Herbarum vivae eicones ad naturae imitationem ad naturae imitationem. Strasbourg: ...

BRUNFELS, Otto (ca. 1489-1534) - Herbarum vivae eicones ad naturae imitationem ad naturae imitationem. Strasbourg: Johann Schott, 1532-36 (introduzione datata 1530). "Brunfels was the first great mind in modern botany, and, as Sachs says, a new epoch of natural science began with Brunfels, Bock, and Fuchs. They broke away from the tradition of the old herbals which, except for the Gart der Gesundheit of 1485, had never represented any original thinking. Brunfels demanded that his plants be drawn from life and, through Weiditz' skill, opened up new horizons for future scientists; his appreciation of Weiditz' work is glowingly expressed in a poem at the beginning of the book, and thus for the first time the illustrator of a botanical book achieved recognition" (Hunt). "A whole world separates these vigorous, well-observed drawings from even the best figures in the German Herbarius of 1485. We are at once reminded of Dürer; and much of Wieditz's work has in fact been falsely attributed at one time or another to that great master, or to Burgkmaier" (Blunt). Hans Weiditz (born before 1500, died c.1536) was a colleague in Hans Burgkmaier's studio, where he worked as a draughtsman for book illustrations. In 1529 he produced the drawings for the woodcuts of Brunfels's herbal, the first volume of which appeared in 1530 (the third volume, published posthumously in 1536, is illustrated by artists other than Weiditz). His original drawings were lost until 1930, when seventy-seven of them were rediscovered in the Felix Platter Herbarium in Bern. 3 parts in one volume, folio (283 x 191mm). Title within elaborate woodcut border (title remargined with some minor loss at margins, generally washed, some letters integrated by hand including on title, A2-A3, sometimes slightly cropped, small wormhole repaired at bottom corner, some others repaired wormholes, final leaf remargined with some letters supplied). Early vellum (remounted and restored), manuscript title on spine. The collation is as follows: A4, a6, b4, c-z6, A-F4, G6 (G6 blank), A8, b6-g6, h4, i6-l6, p6 (misbound here), m4, n6-o6, q6-z6, A4-B4, C6 (C6 blank), A6-T6, V8. Inserted is the restoration report.