Il diario del viaggio in Sicilia di Karel B. Presl, tratto dal manoscritto di K.B. Presl / Briefe in die Heimat, geschrieben auf einer Reise durch Sizilien und Italien (Lettere in patria su un viaggio in Sicilia e Italia). 2nd rev. ed. 2007. (Seminario di Storia della Scienza, Quaderni, 10). 363 p. gr8vo. Paper bd.

Prague-born botanist Karel B. Presl was aged 23 when he embarked on hi sjourney to Sicily in 1817. As a result, he published dozens of new species, which made him a pioneer of Sicilian botany. In the Archives of the National Museum in Prague was found a manuscript which is dated1821 and is a detailed relation of his Sicilian journey, in the form of transcribed letters to his senior brother Jan Svatopluk. This manuscript was obviously intended for publication. It is written in German and divided into two halves. The first part kind of sets the scene, the second part is of more immediate interest for botany.In the present volume both the original German text and its Italian translation are included, with explanatory footnotes in either language.An Index of scientific plant names makes it easy to find the collecting localities for many of Presl's specimens.