Catalogus Plantarum Latinè, Graecè, Germanicè, & Gallicè…Namenbüch aller Erdegewächsen, Latinisch, Griechisch, Teütsch, und frantzösisch. Regestre...
4 p.l., 162 leaves. Small 4to, cont. blindstamped panelled pigskin, remains of two deerskin ties. Zurich: C. Froschauer, 1542.
First edition of a very rare book on the market; this is a lovely fresh copy in contemporary blind-stamped pigskin. This, Gesner’s second botanical work, is “an alphabetically arranged catalog of plant names in four languages, the first of its kind, and an indication of the growing interest in botany beyond purely philological investigations into the writings of the classics. The Greek names are based on the works of Dioscorides. This early work is already characteristic of Gessner’s life-long endeavour to... More