Hortus Indicus Malabaricus - scan first page

Hortus Indicus Malabaricus (Garden of Malabar) is a comprehensive twelve volume treatise with amazing prints. Published between 1678 and 1703, this was possibly the first standard reference work about flora in Asia and was preceded by thirty years of study. The author was jonkheer Hendrik Adriaan van Reede tot Drakestein (1633-1691). He was Commissioner General employed by the VOC, but he was also a well-known botanist who dedicated his limited free time to botany. However, Van Reede did not work alone. A team of a hundred people worked on the publication, including doctors, scientists, engineers, drawers and engravers.