The Journals of Hipolito Ruiz; Spanish Botanist in Peru and Chile 1777 - 1788

4to [27 x 20 cm]; 357 pp, frontis (portrait of author), 11 colored plates of maps and plans, other illustrations from original sources, appendix of medicinal plant names, index of plant names. original cloth, gilt spine title lettering, dj (not clipped), fine and clean, unmarked. A picture of this book is available upon request by email. Translated by famous Harvard botanist, Richard Evans Schultes, who had spent much time in the same regions explored by Ruiz, and Maria Jose Nemry von Thenen de Jaramillo-Arango, and transcribed from the original manuscripts by Jaime Jaramillo-Arango, this work provides the first description from the diaries of Ruiz, one of the earliest botanical explorers and plant hunters in South America, who spent 11 years in forests, mountains, villages of Chile and Peru. Besides the descriptions of 2,000 plants, Ruiz provides fascinating descriptions of the landscape, weather, native cultures, geography, geology, living conditions, etc. The first Spanish scientific expedition in South America, rich in detail.