Basilius Besler (1561–1629) was an apothecary and botanist. He was curator of the Willibaldsburg Castle garden of Johann Konrad von Gemmingen, Prince Bishop of Eichstätt, in Bavaria, who supported Besler's academic and artistic creation and whose funds allowed the purchase of exotic plants from all over Europe. Besler spent 16 years producing drawings of 1084 varieties of plants and flowers in different seasons. These were then engraved on copper plates by master artists, resulting in the 367 beautiful and detailed engravings which comprise Besler's monumental florilegium Hortus Eystettensis, the first large-scale botanical publication.