Plantae selectae..., [Nuremberg, 1750-1773] - photo 1
Plantae selectae..., [Nuremberg, 1750-1773] - photo 2
Plantae selectae..., [Nuremberg, 1750-1773] - photo 3
Plantae selectae..., [Nuremberg, 1750-1773] - photo 4

Plantae selectae..., [Nuremberg, 1750-1773]

Lot 97
21.09.2023 10:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
£ 20 320
AuctioneerSotheby´s
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 1026931
Lot 97 | Plantae selectae..., [Nuremberg, 1750-1773]
Estimate value
£ 15 000 – 35 000
Plantae Selectae quarum imagines ad exemplaria naturalia Londini in hortus curiosorum. [Nuremberg, 1750-1773]

10 parts (decuriae) in 1 volume, folio (528 x 352 mm.), 10 engraved titles (letters in red, black, and gold), 3 mezzotint portraits of Trew, G.D. Ehret, and J.J. Haid, 100 hand-coloured engraved plates after Ehret by Haid, each with the first word of the caption highlighted in gold, contemporary brown calf rebacked, spine with raised bands in eight compartments, contemporary red morocco label to spine, lacking main title-page,rebacked, repair to upper board

First edition of one of the greatest eighteenth-century botanical colour-plate books, without the very rare supplement by Vogel (published in two decuriae in 1790-1792). The Plantae Selectae is considered by Nissen to be the finest botanical work ever printed in Germany. Trew, physician at Nuremberg and amateur botanist, admired the talent and skill of his younger countryman, Georg Ehret, a gardener and flower painter. This work is their major collaboration, although Ehret did contribute several drawings to Trew's Hortus nitidissimis. Ehret is one of the great painters of flowering plants in the eighteenth century and all 100 plates of the Plantae selectae were painted by him. Trew died in 1769, leaving the last three parts uncompleted. The work was finished by Benedict Christian Vogel, Professor of Botany at the University of Altdorf. The work was conceived as early as 1742 when Trew wrote to Christian Thran in Carlsruhe: "Every year I receive some beautifully painted exotic plants (by Ehret) and have already more than one hundred of them, which with other pieces executed by local artists, should later on, Deo volante, constitute an appendicem to Weinmann’s publication but will, I hope, find a better reception than his". In 1748, agreement was reached that Johann Jacob Haid from Augsburg should provide the engravings, and the first part appeared in 1750. Trew died before the text of the last three decuriae was written and before the illustrations of Decuriae IX and X were printed.
Address of auction Sotheby´s
34-35 New Bond Street
W1A 2AA London
United Kingdom
Preview
15.09.2023 09:00 – 16:30
16.09.2023 12:00 – 17:00
17.09.2023 12:00 – 17:00
18.09.2023 09:00 – 16:30
19.09.2023 09:00 – 16:30
20.09.2023 09:00 – 16:30
Phone +44 (0) 20 7293 5000
Phone +1 212 606 7000
Email
4FQ.AE2YUKFA@AYGLGHC3Y@
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase

Related terms

Frequently asked questions

First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.