Plantae Selectae

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These extraordinary handcolored copperplate engravings come from one of the great masterpieces of 18th Century Botanical Illustration, the Plantae Selectae (Selected Plants) written by Jakob Trew and illustrated by Georg Dionysius Ehret. The book had 100 plates of some of the worlds most beautiful plants.

These exceptional illustrations were the result of the collaboration of three great 18th Century talents. The Nuremberg Doctor and publisher Christoph Jakob Trew (1695-1769) had a fascination with botany, and developed an admiration for the work of Georg Dionysius Ehret (1708-1770), a brilliant watercolorist from Heidelberg. The two became close friends and worked on a number of projects together. For Plantae Selectae, they hired one of the greatest engravers of the time, Johann Jakob Haid, a native of Augsburg. Haid also hand colored the sheets, working directly from the watercolor models prepared by Ehret.

The titles on these plates are all heightened in gold. The hand coloring is exquisite. All are in very good to excellent condition (See specific notes on the related pages).

Links to additional references:
Page about George Dionys Ehret compiled by a Professor at the University of Maryland
Text about Ehret from an exhibit at The Holden Arboretum in Ohio

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