J.T. De Bry Daisies & Chrysanthemums Journal — 1641 Florilegium Novum Botanical Engraving Notebook

In the early decades of the 17th century, a new kind of book appeared in the libraries of Europe’s most cultivated collectors. The florilegium — literally a “gathering of flowers” — was neither a botanical treatise nor a garden manual, but something more intimate and more beautiful: a book of flowers for the love of flowers, where the engraver’s needle and the colorist’s brush conspired to capture the ephemeral perfection of a bloom in permanent form. Johann Theodor de Bry, working in Frankfurt in the tradition his father Theodor had established, produced in 1641 one of the finest examples of the genre — a Florilegium Novum whose plates united scientific precision with an artistic sensibility that has never been surpassed.

The front cover features De Bry’s 1641 hand-colored engraving of wild catchfly (Lychnis), Cretan chrysanthemums, and oxeye daisies — each specimen meticulously labeled in Latin, arranged in the classic florilegium tradition against a cream background, rendered in warm reds, soft whites, and delicate flesh tones that capture the botanical precision and aesthetic grace of Frankfurt’s golden age of publishing. The back cover features Plate 9 from the same Florilegium Novum — checkered fritillaries and Trinity flowers (pansies), rendered with the same meticulous hand-coloring, the fritillary’s distinctive checkered pattern and the pansy’s velvety petals captured with the remarkable botanical precision of 17th-century natural philosophy at its finest.

Product Details

• Format: 5.5 × 8.5 inches (14 × 21.6 cm)
• Pages: 150 lined perforated pages (75 sheets)
• Binding: Casewrap sewn — lays flat, flexes for comfortable writing
• Cover: Matte laminated full-wrap, De Bry 1641 Florilegium Novum — Lychnis, Chrysanthemum & Daisies / Fritillaria & Pansy
• Weight: 0.1 kg

Perfect For

• Botanical art collectors and garden enthusiasts celebrating the golden age of the European florilegium tradition
• Lovers of 17th-century natural philosophy drawn to De Bry’s hand-colored engraving precision and Frankfurt’s publishing heritage
• Florists, flower lovers, and nature writers inspired by Lychnis, chrysanthemums, fritillaria, and the classic blooms of the European garden
• Historians of science and art fascinated by the moment when botanical documentation and artistic beauty were inseparable
• Thoughtful gift seekers looking for a beautifully designed journal for botanists, gardeners, and lovers of historical illustration
• Anyone who finds poetry in petals and inspiration in the scientific curiosity of the 17th-century natural world

Read more: The Gathering of Flowers: Florilegia, the Art of the Flower Book, and the Legacy of De Bry’s 1641 Florilegium Novum