THE FLORA CAPENSIS OF JAKOB AND JOHANN PHILLIPP BREYNE

First Series, number 4: 218 pages, colour frontispiece, 90 colour plates with descriptions opposite, grey cloth, a very good copy in the dust jacket.

Jakob Breyne (1637-1697) and his son Johann Philipp (1680-1764) were wealthy merchants of Danzig who collected rare and exotic plants which were then still relatively little know in Europe. Both were celebrated botanists acquainted with the leading botanical figures of the period. A fine collection of water-colour drawings of Cape plants by several artists was assembled by Jakob Breyne in the late seventeenth century. In 1724 eight-six drawings were bound together in an album for Johann Philipp Breyne and given the title 'Flora Capensis.' This album was acquired by Sir Ernest Oppenheimer in 1956 and is one of the treasures of the Brenthurst Collection. It is now published for the first time.' Editor's note.