Projects for botanical and other gardens: A 16th-century manual

Abstract

Abstract The unpublished manuscript 464 in the University Library of Pisa is part of a collection of late 16th-century illustrated manuscripts associated with the planning and with the scientific and teaching activities of the Orto dei Semplici (Herbal Garden) of the University of Pisa, the first and one of the most famous botanical gardens in the history of Europe.1 It is a genuine handbook of plant-beds and would have been an indispensable reference-work for anyone who wanted to lay out or commission a garden. The manuscript was compiled towards the end of the 16th century, as is confirmed by the date ‘1588’ on a little bag of seeds illustrated on folio 10 verso and by an analysis of the watermarks. It consists of 66 leaves, of which the first 57 show a series of geometrical plans for beds, some labyrinths, and illustrations of garden tools. The remaining pages contain eight plans, perhaps by another hand, for botanical gardens, in particular those in Florence and Pisa; in these plans, some of the desig...