Studies in Renaissance Botany

Paperback, 230 pages, b&w illustrations + 32 glossy colour plates, NOT ex-library. Looks unread, clean and bright throughout, free of inscriptions/stamps. A mild crease to lower outer corners, a bit of rubbing to spine ends & cover corners. --The development of botany during the Renaissance has long attracted interest from both the biologists and the historians. The rich base of handwritten, printed, and iconographic materials and herbaria preserved until today, is of a great value not only from historical point of view. They contain the first written and iconographic data about the European vegetation which has undergone irreversible changes during the centuries. One can also find there information valuable for the history of plant nomenclature and for ethnobotany. These materials have so far been studied only to a very limited extent. Most of the classical works on Renaissance botany date back to the 18th century and do not include information about numerous botanical publications from Central Europe. -- Contents: A.Zemanek: Renaissance Botany & Modern Science [Present Studies; Botany of the Renaissance: Duration and Development (- A Role of Plant Science); Institutions (- Chairs of Medical Botany - Botanical Gardens); Private Patronage; Community of Botanists; Publications (- Herbals - Catalogues of Plant Names - Theoretical Works about Plants); Research on European Flora; Exploration of New Geographical Regions; Cultivation of New Species; Birth of Ecological Thinking; Natural History Documentation (- Herbaria - Illustrations of Plants); Botany, Astrology, Magic; Prospects for Research]; Barbara Kuznicka: The Union of Science & Art in the Renaissance: At the Sources of Modern Botany; Andrea Urbizsy In Savoia: Environmental Approach in the Botany of the 16th Century; Ulrich von Rath: The Function & Architecture of the Botanic Garden of the University of Montpellier, 1593-1622 [Historical Background & Sources; Beginnings of the Garden; Illustration of the Garden Dates As 1596; Oldest Layout of the Garden; Buildings; Main Gate; Walkway; Auditorium with Frontispiece; Signs in the Garden; System of Arrangement in the Garden; Garden Sections (- Aquatic Plant Garden: Labyrinth - Montagne / The Hill - Sand & Shore Plants - Hortus Medicus - Jardin de la Reine - Florilegium, Seminarium Natural History Museum); Conclusion]; Sara Ferri: Pietro Andrea Mattioli & His Commentarii [Early Period; Trentino Period; Gorizia Period; Sojourn at the Court of Prague; Old Age]; Luis Ramón-Laca: The Spanish & American Plants in Clusius' Correspondence [Expedition to Spain & Portugal and the Clusius' Spanish Flora; Simón de Tovar & the Rariorum Plantarum Historia (- Seeds Sent to Clusius by S.de Tovar); Question of American Plants: The Role of Juan de Castañeda (- Plants Offered to Clusius by J.de Castañeda); References to American Plants: First Records in the Old World; American Plants in Clusius' Books & Quoted in Castañeda's Letters]; A.Zemanek: Plant Illustrations in the Libri Picturati (A. 18-30) (Jagiellonian Library Cracow, Poland) and New Currents in Renaissance Botany [History & Description of the Collection; Discussion on the Origin of the Illustrations (- Carolus Clusius - Christophe Plantin - Theodorus Clutius - Karel van Sint Omaars, Karel van Arenberg, Carolus Clusius); Pictures and New Currents in Renaissance Botany (- Plant Morphology - Towards a Modern Taxonomy: Observations of Natural Groups of Plants and Variability of Forms - Beginnings of Ecological Thinking - Investigation of the Flora of Europe - Cultivated Species - New, Exotic Plants - 'Monstrous Forms' - Vernacular Names of Plants)]; / Andrzej Jankun: Plant Images Presented in the Olkusz Polyptych (15th Century) [Botanical Analysis of the Individual Panels]; / Anna Kostuch: Plants in the 16th Century Flemish Tapestries from Wawel Castle (Cracow, Poland) [History of the Wawel Flemish Tapestries; Description of the Collection; Images of Natural Habitats; Concluding Comments].…