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CLUSIUS, Carolus

Exoticorum libri decem: quibus animalium, plantarum, aromatum, aliorum que peregrinorum fructuum historiae describuntur: item Petri Belloni observationes

Leiden
Ex officina Plantiniana Raphelengii
1605

€1.800 - €2.600

3 parts in one vol. in-folio, engr. illustrated title ( small part of with margin cut), [20], 378, [10], 52, [28], [12], 242, [1] pp , some browning, c.1000 woodcut illustrations to text with animals and plants, engraved initials, cont. vellum binding (some small parts gone)

The first, in its most complete textual variant, presents Clusius's investigation of rarities of mainly non-European flora and fauna and includes his abbreviated Latin translations of writings by Garcia da Orta, Nicolás Monardes, Cristóvão da Costa and Pierre Belon.. The Curae posteriores, comprising additional entries to Clusius's Rariorum Plantarum, is here in the folio edition and not the quarto of the same year. 'Again and again, in attempting to ascertain the correct application of names given by Linnaeus, the inquirer is lead back to L'Ecluse's work, which can be described as the starting point of our modern knowledge for many genera. His description and the associated illustrations thus help to typify the species of later authors' (Blunt and Stearn The Art of Botanical Illustration, p.82). Arents 73; Arnold Arboretum, 161; BMNH 1075; Hunt 182, 191; Johnston 156; Nissen BBI 368-369; Pritzel 1760-1761; Stafleu & Cowan TL2 1150.

Botany