KNORR, Georg, Wolfgang. Deliciae Natureae Selectae, of Uitgelezen Kabinet van Natuurlyke Zeldzaamheden; welke de drie ryken der natuur aanbieden, om door keurige liefhebberen verzameld te worden, wel eer uitgegeven door G.W. Knorr, beroemd graveur en konsthandelaar te Neurenberg, en vervolgd door zijne erven; eerst in de hoogduitsche taal beschreven, en nu in het nederduitsch overgezet en met aanmerkingen vermeerderd door Philip, Ludwigh Statius Muller, ……….
Te Dordrecht, By Abraham Blussé en Zoon, 1771. First Dutch edition.
Elephant folio (541 x 371 mm), two volumes bound in one; pp. 2, 32, 67 and 1, 34, 70 with one hand- coloured engraved additional frontispiece by R. Muys and 91 superb hand-coloured engraved plates.
Contemporary mottled calf. Spine with 6 raised bands and gilt-lettering. Second compartment with red morocco label bearing the title: P., L., S., Muller. Kabinet van zeldzaamheden der Natuur. Other compartments richly gold-tooled. Gold-tooled rolls and ornament on both covers. Marbled pastedowns front and endpapers. One outer corner professionally restored, spine and boards slightly rubbed. Contents almost immaculate.
A superb, sumptuous and prestigious copy, with a rare full calf gold-tooled binding.
Knorr (1705-1761), was a German palaeontologist, painter, engraver and art dealer. He engraved portraits, landscapes and animal studies after Dürer. In the 18th century, Nuremberg became the leading city in the production of fine illustrated natural history books. This was due to the stimulus of J. Trew, a wealthy Nuremberg physician, who assembled a number of artists and scientists around him like Knorr himself, J.F. Dietsch, J.C. Keller, C.N. Kleemann, C. Leinberger, A. Hoffer, J.A. Eissenmann and J.F. Schmidt. They contributed to the drawings, engravings and hand-colouring of the plates of the present work. Trew owned a natural history collection and menagerie. Many animals and curiosities described and depicted in the “Deliciae Naturae Selectae” originated from his collection. This is indicated by the text: “Ex. Museo Excell. D.D. Chris. Jac. Trew” at the bottom of each plate. But there are also contributions by other natural history collections made by P. L. S. Muller, D. Schadeloock, Knorr himself and others. The plates depict zoological subjects and metals as follows: corals and seaweeds 15 plates, shells 7, butterflies 6, urchins 4, metals and sea anemones 6, crustaceae and spiders 7, starfishes 4, fishes 9, birds 7, quadrupeds 14, reptiles and amphibians 12. It is often said that the beauty of these illustrations exceeds that of their models. The accompanying text is contemplative, anecdotic and not scientific. An extensive list of references to naturalists of the 16th-18th century is given, including Linnaeus, but his system is not followed. The “Deliciae Natureae Selectae” was published in German in 1766 to 1767 and translated into Dutch in 1771 by P.L.S. Muller. In the prelims there is a list of subscribers containing 91 names for 99 copies. Provenance: Copy No. 83, with signature of validation, for this particular copy, by the notary P.J. van Steenbergen, Dordrecht. Max. Von Sternburg, 1830, a previous owner, his name modestly incorporated in the additional frontispiece. Formerly loaned to the Leipzig Museum: “1996, vom Leipziger Museum zurückerhalten”, this text written in pencil on one of the frontis flyleaves. Nissen, 1969, ZBI 2229; Pietsch, 1995.
Price: € 48000