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The Old Herbarium was created as an inspiration for an old print "Practical Botanical History, or Plants Belonging to Medical Use" by Giambattista Morandi, an Italian botanist and physician, published in 1744.
The book is the first catalog of medicinal plants that contains both descriptions and illustrations. Morandi's illustrations of plants are made in the etching technique and are very accurate. Considered to be among the best ever made. The copy we have has hand-painted illustrations, which was rare.
"Historia Botanica Practica" was very well received by critics and enjoyed great popularity. The book was translated into many languages and was used by students of medicine and pharmacy throughout Europe. Morandi's work is still a valuable source of information on medicinal plants and is considered one of the most important botanical works of the 18th century.
We could not allow this extraordinary testimony to the knowledge and skills of 18th century botanists and physicians to be forgotten.
We have one of probably two hand-painted copies that have survived intact to this day.
The second can be found in the Royal Botanical Garden in Madrid .