Botany. ZANONI. Istoria botanica.

Folio, 310x205 mm. Full vellum binding, title written on the spine. Pp. 12 not numbered, 211, 1. Frontispiece and 80 copper plates depicting exotic plants, mostly from the Indian region of Malabar. Some repaired tears, slight loss on the white margin on the leaf of plate n. 7, not affecting the engraving, overall good copy with well impressed illustrations.

First edition. Important work by Zanoni, famous botanist from Bologna of the 17th century, in which he depicts many exotic plants also based on their medicinal properties. Cristofolini – Managlia: “La sua opera principale è la “Istoria Botanica” (1675), dove sono descritte e illustrate in pregevolissime incisioni 111 specie critiche o nuove per la scienza, sia native dell’Italia che esotiche, queste ultime soprattutto originarie del Malabar.” [His main work is the "Istoria Botanica" (1675), where 111 species critical or new to science, both native to Italy and exotic, are described and illustrated in very valuable engravings, the latter especially originating from Malabar] Zanoni managed to collect and catalog the seeds through exchanges with missionaries and travellers, particularly from India. The plants were subsequently grown in the botanical garden of the University of Bologna. The importance of Zanoni in the history of botany is testified by Linnaeus himself, who paid homage to him by naming "Zanonia" a genus of the Cucurbitaceae family.