[Varieties of Iris]

Method Woodcut with hand colouring
Artist attributed to A. Switzer
Published [London: Printed by Humfrey Lownes and Robert Young, at the signe of the Starre on Bread-street hill, 1629]
Dimensions Image 255 x 155 mm, Sheet 340 x 215 mm
Notes A plate from John Parkinson's 'Paradisi in Sole Paradissus Terrestri, or a Garden of all sorts of Pleasant Flowers which our English Ayre will permit to be noursed up: A Kitchen Garden of all manner of Herbes, Rootes, & Fruites, for Meate or Sauce used with us. And an Orchard of all sorte of Fruitbearing Trees and Shrubbes fit for our land together with the right order for orderinge planting & preserving of them and their uses and vertues', first published in 1629. The book was based on the contents of Parkinson's own garden, and gives us a complete picture of the English garden at the beginning of the seventeenth century. Page numbered 175. English text to verso.

A. Switzer (fl. 1629) was a German artist living in England. The frontispage of Parkinson's 'Paradisi' is signed by him, implying his responsibility for the other woodcut illustrations in the book, depicting over 750 varieties of plants.

John Parkinson (1567-1750) was an apothecary and herbalist. He was so well respected in his field that he was consulted on the first 'Pharmacopoeia Londinensis' by the College of Physicians, and in 1617 became one of the founding members of the Society of Apothecaries. He had a keen interest in gardening, which led to the publication of his first work, 'Paradisi in Sole Paradisus Terrestris' in 1629. He may be seen as one of the last herbalists and one of the first botanists, promoting both the practical and purely pleasurable qualities of plants.

Condition: Light toning to sheet.
Framing mounted
Price £300.00
Stock ID 51869

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