Rare Weinmann botanical engraving, Ephemerum Virginianum Flore Purpureo, c1740.36

by Weinmann, Johann Wilhelm

Ephemerum Virginianum Flore Purpureo (Virginian Spiderwort of Trandescantia) antique print - with Ephemerum Virginianum flore alba and Ephemerum phalangoides erectum foliis liliaceis bulbosum flore florescente.

Original mezzotint copperplate engraving with etched outline, by Johann-Jacob Haid (1704-1767). One of the earliest examples of colour-printing with watercolour from a single plate (hand-finished); printed on hand-laid paper, and published between 1737-1745 for Phytanthoza Iconographia by Regensburg apothecary Johann Willhelm Weinmann (1683-1741).

The son of a barber, Weinmann began work as an assistant to an apothecary. He married the daughter of a wealthy wine merchant, Isobella Catharina Furst, bought a house, and then an apothecary shop that had gone bankrupt. After his wife died he married the daughter of a town official, Christine Catharina Pfaffenreuther. Weinmann's business interests flourished amid controversy - but he was able to devote more time pursuing his passion of botany. "The result of many years of tireless study", Weinmann's grandest achievement was Phytanthoza Iconographia, a comprehensive survey of thousands of native and foreign plants "from all four corners of the world". Many of the drawings were by Georg Dionysius Ehret (1708-1770) who developed the Linnaeas style of botanical illustration.

This rare 18th century engraving is in fine condition. Size of page 383 x 245mm (15 1/8 x 9 3/4 inches).