Customer Reviews

Botanical Prints from the Hortus Eystettensis: Selections from the Most Beautiful Botanical Book in the World

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In the 1600s, the Prince-Bishop of Eichsttt, Germany created a stunning garden filled with flowers, fruit, vegetables, trees and pleasure-houses, at the center of which was his palace. His intention was to recreate the Garden of Eden here on earth, and he searched everywhere for the rarest and most lovely of plants to include. His endeavor was documented by some of the best artists of the time, who drew these beautiful botanical images, which then were printed on the largest paper then made, and bound into books. Only a handful of these were hand-colored, to be offered for sale to those whose pockets were deep enough to afford them.

The 27 images selected for this book are exquisitely printed, each measuring about 10" x 13". The colors are fresh and the paper stock has a beautiful, soft sheen and a good weight. These botanical illustrations are fine enough to be framed, and are useful as resource for the artist and designer.

The first time I encountered these images was in poster form about 20 years ago. I loved them, and was so happy to see them offered again. The designs are elegant, some more graphic and modern than others, some more clearly antique. This book is worthwhile for all those who love botanical illustrations.

please pardon my strong opinion, but i consider myself a huge fan of the Hortus Eystettensis. the original book consists of 367 beautiful plates of which 27 are reproduced here. the reproductions are very nice and the prints are excellent, but the selection of prints leaves much to be desired in my opinion in that many of the most beautiful and showy prints that you would expect aren't reproduced while many of the much lesser prints are. obviously this is merely my opinion, but i was really surprised not to find many of the obviously gorgeous plates represented and in their place many of the far less interesting and beautiful ones. this selection simply does not do justice to the book it represents, and nowhere in this book is there any explanation of this selection (did the British Library not want the 27 "best" plates represented?). only 5 of these 27 prints would have made my favorite top 50 prints from the original. the plates reproduced here are #s 10,14,68,51,70,87,145,96,104,118,199,140,142,150,186,204,209,234,324,223,335,337,348,355,357,123,364. Taschen has a wonderful, reasonably-priced reproduction of the entire Hortus Eystettensis called "The Garden at Eichstatt" (and a pocket book selection of the same title) and Nicholas Barker has a wonderful book called "Hortus Eystettensis: The Bishop's Garden" which are highly recommended in place of this.

This book offers 27 beautiful, botanical prints in a variety of colors that are ideal for framing. (Between my sister, best friend and myself we're framing 20 of the 27). However, if you are looking for a nice coffee table book keep in mind that this is paper-backed. Also, if you are interested in reading about botanical prints this book has little narrative.

We got this book for visual aids teaching environmental community classes. But the prints are so beautiful (a post-Renaissance, almost Flemish, reminiscent of Jan Van Eyck). So we ended up framing a few of them and using them at home - in the kitchen and the solarium. The previous reviewer is correct - there are some better prints out there. But these are great, and, the book also includes a small encyclopedia entry on every plant, plus a brief explanation of the print.

The quality of the prints is very good and they are a good size. The price is good enough to buy 2, one to use to frame and the other for the coffee table. Great photos!!