Widely regarded as a masterpiece, Hortus Floridus is perhaps the greatest of early horticultural works using copperplate engravings. Long a source of delight for horticulturists, the original seventeenth-century work was the creation of Crispin van de Pass, a member of a famous family of Dutch engravers. This meticulous reproduction in one volume of the two-volume facsimile edition published in the early twentieth century will enchant enthusiastic gardeners with its more than 100 beautiful, full-page plates of floral favorites. Book One contains a "very lively and true Description of the Flowers of the Springe," among them narcissus, hyacinths, crown imperials, tulips, auriculars, and daffodils. Book Two describes flowers of summer, autumn, and winter — peonies, carnations, pinks, roses, dianthus, sweet william, mallows, lilies, gladiola, clematis, and many others.
Noted botanist Eleanour Sinclair Rohde has written an engaging and informative preface to the text — rendered in charming calligraphic style. Each flower appears on the right-hand page, while van de Pass's text — translated from the original Latin — appears on the left-hand side, and includes details about the meaning of the name, the parts of the flower, size and color of blossoms, and calendar month in which the flower blooms.
Lovingly and painstakingly prepared, this book will also serve as a useful and accurate reference for today's botanists and gardeners, as well as appeal to antiquarians and lovers of fine art.