BOCCIUS’S HERBARIUM

BOCCIUS’S HERBARIUM

Norbert Boccius (1731–1806), prior of the Valtice monastery of the Brothers of Mercy, created around 1766 an extraordinary herbarium in three volumes, Herbarium vivum vel collectiones botanicae factae a F. Norberto Boccius S. Ordinis S. Ioannis de Deo et conventus Feldspergensi pro tempore priore anno MDCCLXVI. It contains 1,216 botanical specimens. Individual plants were carefully pressed, dried, and attached to hand-made paper, probably using a starch-based glue. Boccius placed them on pages either individually or in smaller groups, always making sure that specimens belonging to the same species are grouped together.

The external appearance of the tomes reflects their representative nature. They are bound in brown leather and decorated with metal corner pieces with bosses. Originally, they were also fitted with four metal clasps but only the parts with eyelets remain. The first two tomes contain 205 leaves each, while the third volume has 122 leaves and includes an extensive alphabetical index of all species represented in the three-volume work. For ease of use, all leaves are numbered. A monumental character of this opus is underscored by the size of the volumes (approx. 50 × 35 × 15 cm).

Names of the plants are set into illusory planters with pronounced Rococo elements, which were created by the Bauer brothers: Josef (1756–1831), Franz (1758–1840), and Ferdinand (1760–1826). Next to some of the leaves, the author moreover placed also pressed specimens of insects, mostly butterflies and dragonflies, which add to the decorative nature of the herbarium as a whole. In all three volumes, the plant specimens survive in a relatively good condition. In many, the original green colour of leaves and colouration of the flowers is still apparent, although a smaller part of the specimens has been to some extent damaged.