Botany

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A considerable part of Marsili's book collection is dedicated to botany, above all understood as the study of the effects of plants on human health, for centuries the foundation of medical art.

Through the books of his collection it is possible to grasp the development of this science: from the uncritical study of the great names of the Latin and Greek world (Aristotle, Theophrastus, Dioscorides...) with illustrations lacking verisimilitude, to the study of live plants reproduced in images resembling the reality as closely as possible.

In the 16th century, in fact, the scenario becomes more complex: live plants are studied and it is these, not the illustrations present in the previous books, that are reproduced in the new botanical books. The gaze now turns directly to nature in its reality. The same classical authors are taken up, but in new versions: they are critically studied, beginning from all the lessons of the past.


Piante del R. Orto di Padova One of the teaching boards present in "Piante del R. Orto di Padova", second half of the XVIII century – first half of the XIX century (from Phaidra: La didattica nell'Orto Botanico a cavallo tra XVIII e XIX secolo)

However, these volumes also tell of the evolution of books and their illustrations: from the fifteenth-century manuscript to printed volumes gradually more and more similar to modern books, with increasingly precise image printing techniques.

The presence of books dedicated to fossil plants demonstrates the multidisciplinary and always up-to-date interest that Marsili has for the scientific world.

 

PAGE INDEX

Pseudoapuleio, De herbarum virtutibus (XV century)

A Venetian herbal manuscript l where, alongside abstract or imaginary images, such as the legendary version of the mandrake, vital and real images of medicinal plants appear. The volume seems to oscillate between the revival of ancient images and the fascination of natural reality.

Pseudoapuleio Three pages from De herbarum virtutibus: a plant reproduced with realism, a more stylized image and a representation of the madragora (from Phaidra)

Pseudoapuleio, Incipit herbarium Apulei Platonici ad Marcum Agrippam (1481–1484)

These are the years in which movable type printing comes to the fore: in the first volumes produced, called incunabula, its forms are similar to codex manuscript. This work still contains abstract and unrecognizable illustrations; medical prescriptions are without doses and precise indications: knowledge is still entrusted to the oral tradition, to which the written text is only a support.

Pseudoapuleio Pseudoapuleio Two pages of the work (from Phaidra)

Otto Brunfels, Herbarum viuae eicones (1532)

A work by Otto Brunfels, the German theologian and botanist, here in an edition printed in Strasbourg in 1532. The title page is beautiful, full of mythological references, with the title surrounded by classical representations both in style and subject. The illustrations, made with the technique of engraving on wood, are extremely realistic, to such a point that they also represent broken, withered leaves, ruined by insects.
Brunfels Brunfels Title page of Brunfels' work and image of a plant represented exactly as it appeared in reality (from Phaidra)

Theodor Dorsten, Botanicon (1540)

A volume full of realistic illustrations – in this copy, then painted by hand.

Botanicon Botanicon Two pages of the Botanicon (from Phaidra)

Leonhard Fuchs, Primi de stirpium historia commentariorum tomi vivae imagines (1549)

This work of Fuchs, a German physician and botanist, is among the finest examples of the new approach to botany. The plants are represented by full-page xylographs (woodcuts) accompanied by the Latin name of the species. The representations are highly realistic, albeit with a certain degree of typification: a single specimen is not reproduced, but an attempt is made to show the characteristics common to the entire species.




Rembert Dodoens, Florum, et coronariarum odoratarumque nonnullarum herbarum historia (1569)

A work of the Flemish physician and botanist Rembert Dodoens, with colourful full-page illustrations. In the early days after the invention of printing, the volumes came from the publisher's studio entirely in black and white in sheets ready to be bound. The buyer could then decide to have the figures painted by hand, thereby creating copies always different from each other.

Cristobal Acosta, Trattato… della historia, natura, et virtù delle droghe medicinali… che vengono portati dalle Indie orientali in Europa (1585)

Cristóvão da Costa (or, in Spanish, Cristobal Acosta) was a Portuguese doctor and naturalist, probably born in a Portuguese colony in Africa. In his stays in the East Indies, first as a prisoner of war, then as a doctor, he was able to study oriental plants and drugs. In this volume, accompanied by large, fairly realistic illustrations, he discusses their use in pharmacology.

Jacob Theodor Tabernaemontanus, Eicones plantarum (1590)

The volume, of particular oblong shape, contains more than 2200 woodcuts of plants, seeds and fruits, mostly two per page. The text is limited to a brief introduction and to the Latin name of the plant. This copy presents numerous manuscript footnotes, which reveal that an analysis has been carried out. The author's name (Jakob Dietrich, in reality) comes from a Latinization of Bergzabern, his birthplace, which in German means "mountain tavern".

Tabernaemontanus A page from the volume Eicones plantarum, with handwritten notes (from Phaidra)

Matthias de L'Obel, Icones stirpium (1591)

A volume of oblong shape, it is the work of the Flemish botanist Matthias de l'Obel or Lobellio. It contains more than 2000 illustrations divided into two parts and a plant index in seven languages. The images, made with the technique of engraving on wood, are mostly taken from works by other authors, such as Clusio or Dodoens.

Fabio Colonna, Phytobasanos (1592)

The work, also known as "Plantarum aliquot historia", presents the title in the title page written in Greek letters. The author, an Italian naturalist and botanist, has created illustrations with the technique of engraving on a copper plate for a better descriptive rendering.
Colonna-1 Colonna-2 Two tables from the Phytobasanos: the plants are within a decorative frame and, in some cases, they also have their names in Greek letters (right) (from Phaidra)

Crispijn van de Passe (il giovane), Hortus floridus (1614)

The engravings are the work of Crispijn van de Passe the young, a famous engraver belonging to a family of great Dutch engravers. The work contains four sections, each corresponding to a season. The example possessed by Marsili seems incomplete: it includes only the tables and the title pages relating to winter and spring and the entire second part of the work is missing. Together with the tables some sheets containing manuscript indexes, perhaps by Marsili himself, have been bound.
van-de-Passe-1 van-de-Passe-2 Title page and table from the volume Hortus floridus (from Phaidra)

Giovanni Battista Ferrari, De florum cultura (1633)

The volume, by the Italian botanist Giovanni Battista Ferrari, presents engravings designed by great artists: Pietro da Cortona, Guido Reni, Andrea Sacchi, Anna Maria Vaiani. The engravers (Johann Friedrich Greuter and Claude Mellan) are also outstanding artists. The images combine realism with an undeniable artistic taste.

[Anonymous?], The Flower-garden display'd (1732)

The text, attributed to Richard Bradley, is dedicated to flowers, divided according to their month of flowering. Before each month there is a composition of flowers of great refinement, in the style of the still life of contemporary art. In the Marsili catalogue there is the notation "with colored copper plates" indicating that the images were then painted by hand.

Bradley-1 Composition relating to the month of December from The Flower-garden display'd (da Phaidra)


Bradley-2 Still life of the painter Jan Davidsz. de Heem (circa 1645), currently at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. (Jan Davidsz. de Heem - Wikipedia)

Francesco Stelluti, Trattato del legno fossile minerale nuouamente scoperto... (1637)

A work of research on the geological peculiarities of the lands of Prince Cesi in Umbria. Marsili, attentive to the developments of the science of the time, collects the first texts dedicated to fossils. For centuries, the scientific community had wondered what the origin was of these natural remains or traces found in the rocks and present in museums of curiosities; there was division between those who favoured an inorganic origin and those who believed in an organic origin. In the eighteenth century the origin of the fossils had come to be understood, and attempts were made to classify them and use them to gather information concerning the history of the earth.