"Dulcis amara flox albo. Nigella peregrina flore multiplici, Dulcisamara flox cceruleo vulgatior", Besler, Basilius

Gorgeous copper engraving from one of the finest botanical illustration projects ever done. Besler was an apothecary who undertook to document the fabulous gardens of Prince Bishop Gemmingen of Eichstatt, Germany. Besler's work chronicles the garden as it bloomed throughout the four seasons. This plate depicts a central Nigella Sativa, or nutmeg flower, flanked on both sides by varieties of Solanum Dulcamara, or deadly nightshade. Basilius Besler's magnificent engravings are the first large folio natural history botanicals. Text on verso.

References: Taschen, The Garden at Eichstatt, Plate 180.

Condition: A

Beautiful original color, minor corner crease in blank margin.