Johann Wilhelm Weinmann

Johann Wilhelm Weinmann (13 March 1683 Gardelegen, Germany – 1741),[1] apothecary and botanist, is noted for his creation of the florilegium Phytanthoza iconographia between 1737 and 1745, an ambitious project which resulted in eight folio volumes with more than 1,000 hand-coloured engravings of several thousand plants.

Weinmann employed the youthful Georg Dionysius Ehret as illustrator, who used a newly developed printing process involving mezzotint, which allowed greater detail and shading, and was finished by hand-colouring.

[2] Phytanthoza iconographia is highly regarded for the quality of its colour plates, and the accuracy of its images compared with previous herbals.

Weinmann was greatly respected for his writings on medicinal plants and herbs, and Phytanthoza iconographia is recognised as the first important botanical work to use colour engraved prints.

In 1730 Georg Dionys Ehret (1708–1770) added some drawings, while Herman Boerhaave and Johann Burmann compiled an index for the work.