VALENTIJN, François
Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indiën, vervattende een naaukeurige en uitvoerige verhandelinge van Nederlands mogentheyt in die Gewesten
J. van Braam & Gerard Onder de Linden, Dordrecht-Amterdam, 1726. First Edition. Volume III (Part III, 1) of Valentijn's magnum opus published from 1724-1726. The work was meant to indicate the sphere of influence of the Dutch East India company in the East. It consists of five parts in eight folio volumes. Folio (405 x 265 mm) pp. 2, 4, 1-515, 2. The present volume contains a religious history of Amboina and an extensive description of the flora and fauna on Amboina and the seas near the isles of Amboina.
Beautifully illustrated on 78 plates with numerous figures often with decorative backgrounds of landscapes.
Descriptions and figures of: 126 trees, shrubs, plants herbs; 10 mammals, reptiles and insects; 7 birds; 532 fishes, crustaceans and molluscs, including a large folding plate with the fabulous mermaid made by Ottomar Elliger Jr. Title printed in red and black with a beautiful allegorical vignette. Contemporary vellum, edges sprinkled in red. A magnificient copy. Valentijn (1656-1727) was minister of the Dutch Reformed Church at Ambon. The sixty-two plates that illustrate the "Treatise on the uncommon fishes of Ambon" in this book are equivalents to the figures of the artist Samuel Fallours. Nissen, Schöne Fischbücher, 1951, 123; Pietsch, 1995; Dance 1978.
- Price: € 7500
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