As promised in a previous post, the following prints were taken from the 1774 book by Salomon Schinz, “Anleitung zu der Pflanzenkenntniss und derselben nutzlichsten Anwendung” (Instructions to the Knowledge of Plants and the Most Useful Application of the Same).  Over 230 years after the Fuchs book (see previous blog post), Salomon Schinz created 100 prints from the original Fuchs blocks.  While the prints were the same, when you view the last few pictures of this post, you’ll note the dramatic difference between the prints.  These prints were hand painted by orphans.  It is surmised that this book was used as a type of textbook for students, and it does have plenty of hand written notes on the pages.  Also, notice that the writing from the pages behind these prints bled through and created almost a beautiful watermark type of appearance.  

Once again, we thank the Andersen Library at the MN Landscape Arboretum & Librarian, Kathy Allen for sharing these beautiful treasures with us.