Carolus Clusius (Charles de l’Escluse, 1526-1609)

Bis zum Jahre 1601, wo der nie genug gerühmte Clusius seine »Historia plantarum» veröffentlichte, lernen wir keine neuen Formen von Päonien kennen; Clusius beschreibt gleich ein ganzes Dutzend, deren Deutung aber vielfach kaum mehr möglich sein wird: und die zum Teil sicherlich auch nur Culturformen der P. peregrina darstellen. Unzweifelhaft scheint mir seine „P. byzantino semine nata“ identisch mit der auf der Hämushalbinsel verbreiteten P. decora Anders., besonders weil die Figur des Clusius den für diese Art charakteristischen kerbig eingeschnittenen Rand der Blättchen deutlich zeigt. Seine P.hispanico semine nata ist wahrscheinlich P. peregrina var. humilis Retz und seine P.cretica wahrscheinlich unsere P.peregrina var cretica;

aus Huth Paeonia 1891

... a reference to a white peony occurs in a letter, printed in 1601, from a Venetian doctor, Honorius Bellus (Onorio Belli; d. 1604) of Vicenza who lived at Chania (Cydonia) in Crete from 1583 to 1596. Bellus corresponded with the great Flemish botanist Carolus Clusius (Charles de l’Escluse, 1526-1609) who appended these letters to his Rariorum Plantarum Historia (1601). In a letter of 23 September 1593 Bellus informed him that a white-flowered peony grew commonly in valleys of the highest mountains of Crete and that he had seen neither the male nor the female red-flowered peonies on the island. Nothing more was recorded about this Cretan peony (P. clusii) until the 19th century. Clusius accordingly added this information under the name Paeonia Cretica to the account of Paeonia in his Rariorum Plantarum Historia 1:281 (1601). This account begins with a note on Paeonia byzantino semine nata having a flower with eight, ten or more red (not purple) petals, accompanied by a woodcut (Fig. 12), which is the first illustration of the Balkan species later named P. peregrina (P. decora). Clusius had, however, described it earlier in his Rariorum aliquot Stirpium per Pannoniam 401 (1583). In 1601 he also described eight other kinds of Paeonia, including one from Spain (P. officinalis subsp. humilis) and two double-flowered forms.

From the book: Peonies of Greece, A taxonomic and historical Survey of the Genus Paeonia in Greece, 1984

William T. Stearn and Peter H. Davis

The first important work on paeonies was written by Charles de L'Ecluse, or Clusius. He was born near Arras and lived from 1526 to 1609. His first work was Rariorum aliquot Stirpium per Hispanias observatarum Historia, which was written after a journey to Spain and published in 1576. Then after living in Vienna he published, in 1583, his discoveries of plants in the mountains of Austria and Hungary and wrote about the plants that came to Vienna from Constantinople. In this work, Rariorum aliquot Stirpium, per Pannoniam, Austriam et vicinas . . . Historia, is the first mention of P.Byzantina which has now been identified with P.peregrina. After leaving Vienna he lived at Leyden, where he held a professorship until his death in 1609. He was famous in the Netherlands as the founder of the bulb industry there and was called " Le pere de tous les beaux Jardins de ce pays." Clusius was one of the first botanists to give descriptions of the plants, emphasizing the importance of the plants themselves rather than their medical properties.

His descriptions of paeonies are contained in his main book, Rariorum Plantarum historia, published in 1601. More paeonies are described here than in any previous book. He first gives a description of P.Byzantina (P.peregrina), then describes another paeony raised from seed from Spain, which is probably P.humilis. Then several unnamed paeonies are described, including two double-flowered ones. He mentions, under the name cretica, the white paeony from the Island of Crete, found in the valleys amid the high mountains, which was brought to his notice by Honorius Bellus in 1593. This is the second mention of the beautiful Cretan paeony now named P.Clusii. This book is quoted by Linnaeus.

Stern 1946

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CLUSIUS, C. Exoticorum libri decem: quibus animalium, plantarum, aromatum, aliorumque peregrinorum fructuum historiae describuntur: Item Petri Bellonis Observationibus... Leiden, Officina Pantiniana, Franciscus Raphelingius the younger, 1605. Folio (349 x 223mm). pp. (xvi), 378, (10); 52; (28); (xii), 242, (2), with engraved title, two woodcut maps of the Hellespont and Alexandria, and 275 woodcuts in the text (96 non-botanical); small wormhole in a few gatherings touching a few letters, some occasional spotting, otherwise a fine, crisp copy in contemporary limp vellum. First edition of sequel to the author's 'Rariorum plantarum historia', 1601, containing further works not published in the former, and mostly devoted to exotic plants and animals. The first six books, Libri I-VI, are new writings by Clusius, devoted to new species of plants, animals, and natural history from the new World, Southeast Asia, Africa, etc. This work is important for the number of new descriptions of non-European plants (and some animals) it contains, among which is the first published record and illustration of a South African plant. 'It is of particular importance to us in containing an illustration of a dried inflorescence of 'Protea neriifolia'. Clusius provided a full description of the specimen, which he referred to as an 'elegant thistle' (Carduus), and reported that it was collected at Antongil Bay on the north-east coast of Madagascar during a Dutch trading expedition to Java in 1597. The locality recorded was clearly incorrect and there can be no doubt that the specimen must have been picked up during a call for fresh water somewhere along the Cape coast. It has the distinction of being the first known botanical object to have reached Europe from South Africa' (Todd and Gunn, Botanical exploration of South Africa, p. 13). There is an extensive account of exotic seeds sent to him by various explorers. Libri VII-X comprise Clusius' translations, with commentary, of da Orta, Acosta, and Monardes. This is followed by further works by Monardes translated by Clusius, entitled 'Libri tres, magna medicina secreta et varia experimenta continentes' (on the bezoar stone, iron, snow, etc), 'Libellus de rosa' and 'Dissertatiuncula de citriis'. This is followed by the 'Altera appendix', intended as a supplement to the 'Rariorum plantarum historiae', and finally Clusius' translations of and commentaries on Belon, the ' Plurimarum singularium & memorabilium rerum in Graecia, Asia, Aegypto, Iudaea, Arabia, aliisque exteris provinciis an ipso conspectarum observationes' and the 'De neglecta plantarum libellus'. There are various issues of the different sections of the book. This copy has the first state of the prelims, without the two leaves of verses (printed 1606-7) added later to a few copies. The 'Altera appendix' is in the final state, with the additional gathering ***4, containing flowering dates to 1605. Provenance: contemporary inscription on the title recording that the volume was purchased, unbound, for four florins, with annotations in the same hand to the Belon section; bookplate of John Adam (1819-92), astronomer and discoverer of Neptune; Arpad Plesch, with book-plate; Robert de Belder. Hunt 182; Johnston 151; Nissen BBI, 370; Stafleu & Cowan TL2 1150; Wellcome 1512.

CLUSIUS, C. Rariorum plantarum Historia... Antwerp, Officina Plantiniana apud J. Moretum, 1601. Folio, pp. (xiv, including portrait), 364, cccxlviii, (12), (28, Altera appendix), with engraved title, engraved portrait, and 1109 woodcuts in the text. (bound with:) Exoticorum libri decem: quibus animalium, plantarum, aromatum, aliorumque peregrinorum fructuum historiae describuntur: Item Petri Bellonis Observationibus... Leiden, Officina Plantiniana, Franciscus Raphelingius the younger, 1605. Folio. pp. (xvi), 378, (10); 52; (xii), 242, (2), with engraved itle, two woodcut maps of the Hellespont and Alexandria, and 275 woodcuts in text (96 non-botanical). First editions of the two volumes of L'Écluse's collected works, including the rare portrait in theRariorum, which is almost always lacking. I. First edition. The first part of the work synthesises material presented in L'Écluse's 'Rariorum aliquot Stirpium per Pannoniam et Austriam Observatarum Historia', Antwerp 1583 and his 'Rariorum aliquot Stirpium per Hispanias...' Antwerp 1576, along with additions describing new plants. It is followed by the 'Fungorum historia', the first published treatise on fungi, which L'Écluse had composed during his stay with the Count of Batthyam in Hungary, Giovanni Pona's 'Plantae quae in Baldo Monte reperiuntur', and letters of Honorius Belli and Tobias Roelsius. Approximately one hundred new species are described for the first time. The engraved title has a fine architectural b with representations of Adam and Solomon, and Theophrastus and Dioscorides, surrounded by pots of exotic plants, such as lilies and tulips (the latter were introduced into European cultivation by L'Écluse). The portrait, signed D. Gheyn, depicts L'Écluse in an oval cartouche incorporating a coat-of-arms and surrounded by pots of tulips, lilies, fritillaries, etc., two winged Naiads emerging from cornucopiae overflowing with plants, tiaras of sea-urchins on their heads, nuts, seeds, and corals strewn below. Of the 1109 woodcuts, 233 are from the Spanish flora and 356 from the Austro-Hungarian flora, and were cut by Gerard van Kampen after drawings by L'Écluse and Pieter van der Borcht. The remaining blocks were cut by the son of Virgil Solis in Frankfurt. II. First edition of the sequel to the author's 'Rariorum plantarum historia', 1601, containing further works not published in the former, and mostly devoted to exotic plants and animals. The first six books, Libri I-VI, are new writings by L'Écluse, devoted to new species of plants, animals, and natural history products from the New World, Southeast Asia, Africa, etc. This work is important for the number of new descriptions of non-European plants (and some animals) it contains, among which is the first published record and illustration of a South African plant. 'It is of particular importance to us in containing an illustration of a dried inflorescence of Protea neriifolia. Clusius provided a full description of the specimen, which he referred to as an 'elegant thistle' (Carduus), and reported that it was collected at Antongil Bay on the north-east coast of Madagascar during a Dutch trading expedition to Java in 1597. The locality recorded was clearly incorrect and there can be no doubt that the specimen must have been picked up during a call for fresh water somewhere along the Cape coast. It has the distinction of being the first known botanical object to have reached Europe from South Africa' (Todd and Gunn, Botanical exploration of South Africa p. 13). There is an extensive account of exotic seeds sent to him by various explorers. Libri VII-X comprise L' Écluse's translations, with commentary, of da Orta, Acosta, and Monardes. This is followed by further works by Monardes translated by L'Écluse, entitled 'Libri tres, magna medicina secreta et varia experimenta continentes' (on the bezoar stone, iron, snow, etc), 'Libellus de rosa' and 'Dissertatiuncula de citriis'. This is followed by the 'Altera appendix', intended as a supplement to the 'Rariorum plantarum historiae', and finally L'Écluse's translations of and commentaries on Belon, the 'Plurimarum singularium & memorabilium rerum in Graecia, Asia, Aegypto, Iudaea, Arabia, aliisque exteris provinciis ab ipso conspectarum observationes' and the 'De neglecta plantarum libellus'. There are various issues of the different sections of the book. This copy has the first state of the prelims, without the two leaves of verses (printed 1606-7) added later to a few copies. The Altera appendix is in the final state, with the additional gathering ***4, containing flowering dates to 1605. It is here bound at the end of the Rariorum. I Hunt 180; Johnston 149; Nissen BBI 372; Stafleu and Cowan 1149; II Hunt 182; Johnston 151; Krivatsy 6767; Nissen BBI 370; Simoni L49; Stafleu and Cowan 1150; Wellcome 1512.   View pictures of the Antiquariaat Junk

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