2oo Botanical Illustration [ch. 



alterations in the form. The decorative border, surrounding 

 each of the figures reproduced, was not printed from the 

 copper. 



In the seventeenth century, a large number of botanical 

 books, illustrated by means of copper-plates, were produced. 

 The majority of these were published late in the century, 

 and thus scarcely come within our purview. A few of the 

 earlier ones may, however, be referred to at this point. In 

 1611 Paul Renaulme's 'Specimen Historian Plantarum ' was 

 published in Paris, but though this work was illustrated 

 with good copper-plates, the effect was somewhat spoilt by 

 the transparency of the paper. Two years later appeared 

 the ' Hortus Eystettensis,' by Basil Besler, an apothecary of 

 Nuremberg. It is a large work with enormous illustrations, 

 mostly of mediocre quality. In the succeeding year, 1614, 

 a book was published which has been described, probably 

 with justice, as containing some of the best copper-plate 

 figures of plants ever produced. This was the ' Hortus 

 Floridus' of Crispian de Passe, a member of a famous 

 family of engravers. Like Parkinson's ' Paradisus Terres- 

 tris,' into which some of the figures are copied, it is more 

 of the nature of a garden book than a herbal. 



In 161 5 an English edition of Crispian de Passe's work 

 was published at Utrecht, under the title of 'A Garden of 

 Flowers.' The plates are the same as those in the original 

 work. The artist is particularly successful with the bulbous 

 and tuberous plants, the cultivation of which has long been 

 such a specialty of Holland. Plate XIX is a characteristic 

 example, but only part of the original picture is here re- 

 produced. The soil on which the plants grow is often 

 shown, and the horizon is placed very low, so that they 

 stand up against the sky. This convention seems to have 

 been characteristic, not only of the plant drawings of the 

 Dutch artists, but also of their landscapes. In the paintings 

 of Cuyp and Paul Potter, the sky-line is sometimes so low 

 that it is seen between the legs of the cows and horses. 

 This treatment was no doubt suggested by life in a flat 

 country, but it was carried to such an extreme that the 

 artist's eye-level must have been almost on the ground ! 



The purchaser of ' The Garden of Flowers ' receives 

 detailed directions for the painting of the figures, which he 



