I) Herbarum, Arborum, Fructium, Frumentorum, c. 1540 ... II) De Speciali quarundam plantarum, Frankfurt: Egenolff 1552
Medium
Woodcuts
Dimensions
7 5/8 x 6 1/8 x 13/16 in. (19.4 x 15.5 x 2 cm)
Classification
Books
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1944
Accession Number
44.7.47
Tags
Art Historical Context
This 1552 volume, published in Frankfurt by the printer Christian Egenolff, brings together two botanical texts focused on herbs, trees, fruits, and grains. The first section draws from earlier sources dating to around 1540, while the second offers specialized descriptions of select plants. As a printed book illustrated with woodcuts, it reflects the Renaissance surge in interest in natural history, when scholars and physicians sought reliable references for identifying medicinal and useful species. Egenolff, a leading figure in early German printing, specialized in affordable illustrated wor...
About the Artist
Christian Egenolff · 1502–1555
Christian Egenolff (1502–1555) was one of the most important and influential printers of sixteenth-century Germany, a figure whose significance extends from the history of the book to the visual arts of the early modern period. Born in Hadamar, he learned the printing trade before establishing himself in Frankfurt am Main, where he would build a publishing house of lasting consequence. Egenolff w...