ALPINI'S UNCOMMON DE PLANTIS EXOTICIS FROM 1629.

ALPINO, PROSPERO. De plantis exoticis libri duo Prosperi Alpini phylosophi, medici, in Gymnasio Patauino medicamentorum simplicium professoris [...] Opus completum, editum studio, ac opera Alpini Alpini phylosophi, & medici, auctoris fili... Venetiis, apud Io. Guwerilium, 1629.

Small 4:o (about 203x142 mm.). (16), (1)-344 pp. Title within figurative engraved border, 145 fullpage engravings (all, included in the pagination, from about page 315 partly some staining in inner lower margin).

Later (early 18th century) worn brown half calf, faded spine in seven compartments, mended in the hinges, small damage at head, red edges. On verso of title duplicate stamps from the British Museum 1787.

Ref. Nissen: BBI 21; Pritzel 112; Hunt 213
Second edition, unaltered from the first printed 1627. The author carefully studied the flora of Crete. Information on plants from other areas was later incorporated into the manuscript, a notable contribution to Mediterranean floristics. This is especially true of the flora of Crete, many of whose plants were described for the first time.
Prospero Alpino (1553-1617), Italian physician and botanist, director of the Botanical Garden in Padua.

Provenance: Olle Wallin (1934-2021), economist who began his professional career working for the Swedish commercial bank Svenska Handelsbanken, after which he was employed by the construction company Beijers, working under Anders Wall.
His interest in books and nature was inspired by his parents, both avid book collectors and interested in natural history. Wallin began collecting seriously after moving to Stockholm in the 1970's, and frequently visited the many antiquarian book shops as well as attended the auctions. His line of work also required extensive travel, foremost to the European continent and the US, and he usually took the opportunity to combine the business trips with visits to leading antiquarian book sellers and auction houses. Many of the more important and valuable works in his collection were acquired on those occasions.

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