C1646

Zür Gesundheit.

Artist:

Rare, c.17th hand coloured emblemtic botanical engraving, identifying a member of the Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft (Fruitbearing Society) that was formed and operated within a symbolic system that included passwords and emblematic language. First and best edition (1646), of this emblematic register … Read Full Description

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S/N: MDFGE-BOT-OS-121–523261

(C081)

Categories: Central Europe, MAPS & GLOBES, EUROPE

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Details

Full Title:

Zür Gesundheit.

Date:

C1646

Artist:

Matthaus Merian (1593 - 1650)

Condition:

In good condition.

Technique:

Hand coloured copper engraving.

Image Size:

106mm

x 175mm

Paper Size:

151mm

x 198mm

Genuine antique
dated:

1646

Description:

First and best edition (1646), of this emblematic register in the form of a botanical engraving of the Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft (Fruitbearing Society), founded at Weimar in 1617. Each engraving from this series, records each member with an assigned plant, frequently fruit-bearing together with a Gesellschaftsname (society name), Wahlspruch (motto), and Sinnspruch (explanatory verse), all engraved beneath the emblematic device. The Society was conceived as a literary and moral academy dedicated to the cultivation and purification of the German language, the society employed horticultural metaphor to express ideals of refinement, constancy, and productivity. Matthaus Merian’s finely engraved plates combine botanical observation with baroque emblematic design, forming both a visual roll of membership and a significant document of c.17th German literary culture.

From: Merian, Matthaus: Der Fruchtbringenden Gesellschaft. Nahmen, Vorhaben, Gemählde und Worter. Frankfurt am Main 1646.

References:
Nissen, C. Die Botanische Buchillustration. Stuttgart 1966 1343.

Collections:
University Wisconsin-Milwaukee: Vault X47BH F94 XF94
University of Edinburgh: LC : 71882820

Matthaus Merian (1593 - 1650)

Matthaus Merian (1593-1650) was a Swiss publisher and engraver born in Basel who in 1615 moved to Germany where he worked for Johan Theodor de Bry. In 1617, Merian married Maria Magdalena de Bry, daughter of the publisher, and for a time associated with the de Bry publishing house. In 1620 they moved back to Basel, but three years later returned to Frankfurt. They had four daughters and three sons, including Matthäus Merian the Younger. Maria Magdalena de Bry died in 1645 and the following year Matthäus married Johanna Catharina Hein. Five years later, Matthäus died, leaving his wife with two small children, Anna Maria Sibylla Merian (born 1647) who later became a pioneering naturalist and illustrator. In 1623 Merian took over the publishing house of his father-in-law after de Bry's death. In 1626 he became a citizen of Frankfurt and could therefore work as an independent publisher. He spent most of his working life in Frankfurt.

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