Weinmann 18th Century Hand Colored Botanical Engraving "Ephemerum Virginianum", 1736

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This colored botanical mezzotint and line engraving finished with hand coloring by Johann Wilhelm Weinmann (1683-1741) is entitled "A. Ephemerum … Read more This colored botanical mezzotint and line engraving finished with hand coloring by Johann Wilhelm Weinmann (1683-1741) is entitled "A. Ephemerum Virginianu flore Purpureo, B. Ephemerum Virginianum flore Albo". It is plate 478 in Weinmann's monumental publication "Phytanthoza Iconographia", published in Amsterdam 1736-1748.

This engraving is printed on laid chain-linked watermarked paper measuring 15.75" x 9.5". A small spot in the lower margin on the left and an even smaller spot in the upper margin on the left appear to be related to the production of the paper. The print is in excellent condition.

Johann Weinmann, a botanist and pharmacist directed a famous pharmacy in Regensburg. The Phytanthoza Iconographia was his masterpiece, a huge work in eight folio volumes, which provided one of the most comprehensive botanical references of the eighteenth century. It has been described as a "pioneering work of botanical prints” and it remains today one of the most ambitious works ever undertaken, displaying over 4,000 species.

The artist for the much of the work was the gifted and very collectible Georg Dionysius Ehret (1708-1770). Born of a humble family in Heidelberg, Ehret was taught to draw by his father at an early age. As a young man, he worked as a gardener first for the Elector of Heidelburg and then the Margrave of Badaen-Durlac. He became a well respected botanist and entomologist and one of the most influential European botanical artists of all time. See less