Exactissima descriptio rariorum quarundam plantarum, que continentur Rome in horto Farnesiano [...].

Folio: [12]-100-[8] pp. (sm. holes on title underlaid and some lvs restored, worm galleries without serious damage, some staining).

Cont. vellum, ink-titled spine (sl. loosening).

First edition of the "Hortus Farnesianus", catalogue of rare plants in the garden of Cardinal Odoardo Farnese on the Palatine Hill in Rome. Compl. with 1 engr. title showing an architectural frame with the seated figures of Teofrastus and Dioscorides at the base of the monument and the coat-of-arms of the Farnese family at the bottom with two putti holding flowers, 22 full-page engr. pl. and 6 woodcuts in texto. The work is attributed to T. Aldini of Cesena, pharmacist and physician and curator of the famous gardens of the Farnese family. "Beginning in the 18th c. [...], a number of scholars (incl. Haller, Spregel, Pritzel) have suggested that the actual author of this work may have been Pietro Castelli, professor of medicine and botany at the University of Rome, and founder of Messina's botanical garden, for which he edited a scholary catalogue, "Hortus messanensis" (1640). An indirect allusion of this possible authorship can be found in a poem in Latin that follows the formal dedication: here the name "Petrus Castellus Romanus" is hidden in an acrostic [...]" (L. Tongiorgi Tomasi, an Oak Spring Flora, p. 114). The book presents various rare plants from the collection of the Farnese family such as acacia, cinnamon, Indian laurel, passion flower, lily, castor bean, exotic campanula, hellebore, aloe, narcissus of Caledonia etc. Thanks to their close ties with the Jesuit Order, the Farneses obtained seeds and specimens of exotic plants from missionaries returning to Rome. Ref. Nissen (BBI) 13. - Pritzel 1590. - Hunt 208. - Plesch, p. 124. Prov. L. Delannoy, landscape-architect (stamped bookpl.).