Rare Early American Botany in the Vatican Gardens
With 30 Full-Page Engravings

GILII, Filippo Luigi and XUAREZ, Gaspare.

Osservazioni fitologiche sopra alcune piante esotiche introdotte in Roma fatte nell’anno 1788 [1789, 1790].

4to. 235 mm x 170 mm. 3 parts bound together. Volume 1: 64 pp., 10 full-page plates. Volume 2: (1), viii, 70 pp., 10 full-page plates. Vol. 3: (2), 99 pp., 10 full-page plates. Imprints of vols. 1 and 2: Rome, A. Casaletti, 1789 [1790]. Imprint of vol. 3: Rome: Stamperia Giunchiana: A spese di Venanzo Monoldini, 1792. Bound in contemporary half vellum with patterned Italian paper boards, slightly worn. Illustrations printed on thick paper. Small marginal paper tear to plate 3 of vol 2. Some occasional marginal toning to text. Some light spotting to text of volume 3. Plates well inked and clean. Generally, a fresh and genuine copy, very good.

Only edition. Rare in its completeness, as offered here with its three parts. An understudied botanical work on exotic plants at the Orto Vaticano Indico in Rome, imported from different parts of the world for cultivation and acclimatization. The book was written by Filippo Luigi Gigli (or Gilii) (1756-1821), an Italian diocesan priest, prolific author, naturalist and director of the Vatican Observatory and his friend the Argentinian Jesuit and botanist Gaspar Xuarez (or Juarez) (1731-1804). Gillii is also famous for placing the meridian line and obelisk in front of St. Peter's for readings of the seasons. One of the work’s greatest values lies in direct observations, as both authors were botanists involved in planting and designing the Vatican Gardens. 

Printed in three parts over three years, Osservazioni is illustrated with 30 full-page engravings. Each volume follows the same structure: ten species of plants are each described in an essay and illustrated with an engraving. The plants featured in the work are of North and South American origins, and some were cultivated by indigenous people in the pre-Columbian times. The plants include yellow poplar, a landmark of North American landscape; such modern staples of Italian cuisine as tomato, melon, and chili pepper; sweet potato; chia; quinoa; and sugar cane, to name a few. The text discusses the sexes of plants, their reproductive systems and anatomy, and to some degree their industrial uses and medicinal properties.

The 30 engraved full-page illustrations are attributed to Cesare Majoli (1746-1823), a Hieronymite monk, prolific author, fervent follower of Linnaeus and foremost botanical illustrator, one of the most celebrated in Italy at the time. Like Gilii, he was also educated by the Jesuits. He left a large corpus of botanical observations, drawings, and watercolors; a street in Rome is named after him.

The second volume is dedicated to Antonio Porlier (1722 -1813), a Spanish nobleman and passionate botanist, who served as a high-ranking administrator in Spain and its colonies from 1757—1812. He played a major role in three large-scale botanical explorations of the New World sponsored by the Spanish crown, some led by the famous botanists Hipólito Ruiz and Jose Pavon. Porlier could have introduced Ruiz and Pavon to the work of Gilii and Xuarez, which led them to name the genus Giglia after Gilii.

OCLC: NYBG, Harvard, National Agricultural Library, University of Maryland, and Oklahoma.

References: Nissen, 706; Pritzel, 3332; not in Plesch or Hunt. Wilde, Miguel de Asúa y José Luis Narvaja, eds., “Filippo Luigi Gilii and Gaspar Juárez, Observaciones fitológicas: Sobre algunas plantas exóticas introducidas en Roma,” Journal of Jesuit Studies, 8/4 (2021), 681-683. https://www.artestoriatarquinia.it/wp-

content/uploads/bollettini/1993_Bollettino/TIBERI%20L.G.%20LA%20SOCIETAS%20GEORGIC

A%20TARQUINIENSIS%20ED%20IL%20SUO%20FONDATORE%20FILIPPO%20LUIGI%20GILII.pdf; https://www.swcoloradowildflowers.com/biographies%20of%20naturalists%202.htm.

 

 

Price: $11,500.00