Johann Theodor de Bry Hyacinth Journal — 1611 Florilegium Novum Notebook

In 1611, Johann Theodor de Bry published the Florilegium Novum in Frankfurt — one of the earliest and most beautiful floral pattern books ever produced, born at the intersection of the copper-plate engraving tradition his father Theodor had made famous and the new botanical enthusiasm sweeping Northern Europe. The exotic bulbs arriving from the Ottoman Empire were transforming European gardens, and the de Bry family — Frankfurt’s greatest publishing dynasty — captured their fragrant beauty with a precision and decorative elegance that has never been surpassed.

The front cover features Plate 57 from the Florilegium Novum — Hyacinthus orientalis maior flore caeruleo and Hyacin. Orien. flore albo, the great blue Oriental hyacinth and its white companion, framed by the decorative dark border characteristic of early 17th-century Frankfurt publishing, rendered with the meticulous copper-plate precision of the de Bry family tradition. The back cover features Plate 58 — a companion plate documenting further varieties of the Oriental hyacinth with the same engraving mastery — completing a full-wrap portrait of Hyacinthus orientalis as seen through the eyes of the de Bry family at the height of the Dutch Golden Age’s bulb-collecting passion.

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 Florilegium Novum 1611 Plates 57 & 58
• Weight: 0.1 kg

Perfect For

• Gardeners and bulb enthusiasts celebrating the Dutch Golden Age’s passion for exotic Ottoman flowers
• Hyacinth and spring flower lovers drawn to the copper-plate precision of the de Bry family botanical tradition
• Early botanical illustration collectors and admirers of the Florilegium Novum and Frankfurt’s golden age of publishing
• Lovers of the de Bry family dynasty — from Theodor de Bry to Maria Sibylla Merian — and their extraordinary contribution to botanical art
• Thoughtful gift seekers looking for a beautifully designed journal for gardeners, botanists, and lovers of Dutch Golden Age art
• Anyone who finds beauty in spring blooms and inspiration in the botanical heritage of early 17th-century Europe

Read more: The de Bry Dynasty: Frankfurt’s Greatest Publishing Family and the Florilegium Novum of 1611