RISLER, Josua; and Christian THRAN. Serenissimi Marchionis et Principis Bada-Durlacensis Hortus Carolsruhanus, in tres ordines digestus, exhibens nomina plantarum exoticarum, perennium & annuarum quae aluntur per Christianum Thran… accedit aurantiorum, citreorum limonumque malorum Catalogus. Lörrach [Baden-Württemberg]: S. A. de la Carriere, 1747.

8vo (180 x 100mm). (Minor spotting and soiling, lacking first leaf presumably a blank.) Contemporary calf gilt (minor wear to spine ends and corners, joints rubbed). Provenance: 19th-century gift inscription in French on front flyeaf and note on rear flyleaf.

FIRST EDITION. A rare catalogue prepared by Josua Risler containing identifications of the plants growing in the Royal Gardens and Orangerie at Karlsruhe. The primary part is organized by exotic, perennial and annual plants, and lists 2,993 plants that main gardener Christian Thran recorded in his diary. The second part by Risler contains a listing of 154 citrus fruit plants growing in garden at Carolsruh, most likely in the Orangerie. Thran was the gardener for margrave Karl Wilhelm of Baden-Durlach from 1731 to 1746 who asked him to create the palace garden in the French baroque styles. Pritzel 7369. VERY RARE: According to online records no copies of the first edition have appeared at auction in at least the past 45 years.

Selections from Antiquariat Botanicum, Dr. Eugene Vigil