The Hortus Indicus is the first comprehensive Flora of the East Indies, containing the first illustrations of a great number of tropical and suptropical plants and fruits and one of the first major natural history works to make extensive use of Arabic Botanical nomenclature. "One of the most celebrated of pre-Linnean books... an important contribution to the Botany and Ethnobotany of Southern India" (Blunt and Stearn The Art of Botanical Illustration p. 153). Rheede was the colonial governor of Malabar on the south-west coast of India and, when not occupied with official duties, an enthusiastic botanist and investigator of the Indian sub-tropical flora. Initially he encouraged local people to collect plants for him and employed learned Brahmins to supply information. The plates were drawn by Matteus A. St. Joseph and engraved by B. Stoopendael. They include the Sanskrit, Arabic and Malalam names of the plants, as well as the Latin.

Copper engraved plate with later hand-colouring from Hortus Indicus Malabaricus. Sheet size: 37.7cm x 45.5cm. Mounted, overall size: 49.5cm x 57.5cm.

Nissen 1625; Pritzel 7585.