I post this because of its interest. We can discuss the book on
list (if anyone knows something about it), but any discussion of
buying it should be sent directly to Mr. Lane. Sounds like a
decent price . . . to me. ;-) But I'm not in the market. :-) I
have all the old and rare books and maps I need and am, in fact,
getting rid of some.

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL -- Bonsai List
manager


----- Original Message -----
From: "John Lane"
To:
Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2003 11:34 AM
Subject: George Liegelsteiner & Bonsai growing in Europe ca. 1700


I am not a member of your list, but thought the following might
be of interest to your members. Perhaps you could post it.

I am no Bonsai specialist, but as a bibliographer at Asher Rare
Books in IJmuiden, The Netherlands, I researched George
Liegelsteiner's Wohlgezogener Zwerg-Baum and ran across the
comments Walter Pall made about this book on your list in 2000
(and references to his article in Bonsai Magazine, no. 3, pp.
38-39). His comments on the text are far more informative than
anything I could say, but I can add some information on the
history of the book and author that may be of interest to members
of the Bonsai Club.

As Walter Pall noted, Liegelsteiner was (by 1725) official
gardener to the court of Count Franz Anton Harrach (1665-1727),
Archbishop of Salzburg. But he first published his book even
earlier: in Frankfurt am Main in 1702! I have personally examined
only the editions of 1725 and 1747, but I give a list of editions
(all octavo) with what information I have found:

date, place of publication (publisher): pagination +
illustrations.

1702 Frankfurt am Main (J. M. Bencard): (7), '324' [= 124] pp.,
no information on illustrations.
1703 n.p.: (8), 111 pp. + plates (no indication of the number). A
reprint with only minor changes in the text.
1704 Salzburg, no information on pagination or illustrations.
1716 Regenspurg (Johann Martin Hagen): (14), 124, 4 pp. + 9
engraved plates.
1725 Frankfurt am Main, Leipzig & Regenspurg (Carl Christoph
Immig): (8), 110 pp. + engraved frontispiece & 8 engraved plates
with 46 figures.
1747 Leipzig (Wolgang Deer): (1 blank), (11), 143, (9) pp.
including woodcut frontispiece & about 30 woodcut figures + 1
engraved plate with 8 figures.

The author was certainly still alive in 1716, and apparently
still in 1725, so these editions may have been revised by him
(those of 1703 and 1704 may be unauthorized pirated editions). He
apparently died before 1747, but the edition published in that
year has a new appendix on improving poor soil and enhancing wood
growth, as well as a new nine-page 'Vorrede' by an unidentified
hortophile giving new and interesting information about the
introduction of the cultivation of dwarf trees into Europe. It
indicates that the practice came to the gardens of Versailles
from Asia in the late seventeenth century, and names people
involved in spreading the knowledge to Germany, including
Liegelsteiner.

A copy of the 1725 edition is currently available from Asher Rare
Books (Euro 1250).
www.asherbooks.com

John A. Lane
Asher Rare Books
P.O. Box 258
1970 AG IJmuiden
The Netherlands
tel. +31 (0)255 52 38 39
fax +31 (0)255 51 03 52


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