J. C. Volkamer. The Book of Citrus Fruits. 45th Ed.

J. C. Volkamer. The Book of Citrus Fruits. 45th Ed.

Citrons, lemons, and bitter oranges float like heavenly bodies above Italian villas, Nuremberg gardens, and picturesque countryside in J. C. Volkamer’s ode to the citrus fruit. Reproducing a hand-colored set of copper plates, this publication shows 170 varieties of citrus fruits, reviving a time when citrus fruits were exotic.

Have you ever thought of citrus fruits as celestial bodies, angelically suspended in the sky? Perhaps not, but J. C. Volkamer (1644–1720) did—commissioning an extravagant and breathtaking series of large-sized copperplates representing citrons, lemons, and bitter oranges in surreal scenes of majesty and wonder.

Ordering plants by post mostly from Italy, Germany, North Africa, and even the Cape of Good Hope, the Nuremberg merchant Volkamer was a devotee of the fragrant and exotic citrus at a time when such fruits were still largely unknown north of the Alps. His garden came to contain a wide variety of specimens, and he became so obsessed with the fruits that he commissioned a team of copperplate engravers to create 256 plates of 170 varieties of citrus fruits, many depicted life size, published in a two-volume work. The first volume appeared in 1708, with the impressively lengthy title The Nuremberg Hesperides, or: A detailed description of the noble fruits of the citron, lemon and bitter orange; how these may be correctly planted, cared for and propagated in that and neighboring regions.

Few colored sets of Volkamer’s work are still in existence today. This publication draws on the two recently discovered hand-colored volumes in the city of Fürth’s municipal archive in Schloss Burgfarrnbach. The reprint also includes 56 later discovered illustrations that Volkamer intended to present in a third volume,

Hardcover, 15.6 x 21.7 cm, 1.10 kg, 492 pages

ISBN 978-3-8365-9478-3

Edition: Multilingual (English, French, German)

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