Notes on the discovery of ancient wild wheat

Aaronsohn, Aaron / Oppenheimer, Hillel. Tsemah 'Ever Ha-Yarden: mifkad bikoret li-tsemahim asher ne'esfu u-miktsatam hugderu 'al yede Aharon Aharonson be-meshekh mas'otav (1904-1908) be-'Ever ha-Yarden uva-'Aravah.

Zichron Yaakov, Ma'sav (privately published), 1934.

8vo. (8), 384 pp. Cloth-backed red boards with title inked on spine, likely privately bound.

 850.00

Very rare privately published botanical text on the famous expedition of the Jewish agronomist Aaron Aaronsohn (1876-1919) through the Anti-Lebanon mountain range and his subsequent discovery of what was claimed to be the oldest wild wheat, ancestor of all farmed wheat today.

While the exact line of descent of modern wheat is contested and complex, Aaronsohn's wheat - wild emmer - was indeed ancient, and its discovery remains a landmark moment in historical botany and the study of the history of human civilization. Like much of Aaronsohn's work, his detailed notes on the wild wheat distribution and other botanical notes on the landscapes he surveyed were published posthumously by Aaronsohn's family. The text includes numerous scientific names and an index, plus 13 botanical designs and 38 photoplates documenting the expedition. A folding map at the rear is titled "Aaronsohn's travels in Jordan and the distribution of wild wheat in the land of Israel". Largely in Hebrew, supplemented with scientific Latin, this Hebrew version is very uncommon, as Aaronsohn's work was originally published in French as "Florula transiordanica: révision critique des plantes récoltées et partiellement determinées", also by his family, in 1931.

Binding bumped at extremeties; a few library stamps to title-page, along with some minor paper repairs. Altogether in good condition.

References

OCLC 42945306.