![[TULIPS]. -- Nederlandsche Bloemwerk. Door en Gezelschap geleerden. Amsterdam: J.B. Elwe, 1794.](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/1998/NYP/1998_NYP_09012_0062_000(112941).jpg?w=1)
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[TULIPS]. -- Nederlandsche Bloemwerk. Door en Gezelschap geleerden. Amsterdam: J.B. Elwe, 1794.
4 (252 x 200 mm). Hand-colored engraved title by H. L. Myling after Paul Theodor van Brussel, list of subscribers, 53 hand-colored engraved plates. (Very occasional faint spotting.) Contemporary marbled calf, sides with gilt ornamental borders, flat spine gilt panelled with lyre tools, red morocco lettering-piece (joints and corners slightly rubbed, inner hinges weak).
FIRST EDITION, "a symbol and representation of the ascendancy of the Dutch nurseryman" (Hunt). The identity of the members of the society of nurserymen who published the work is not known. Published for the benefit of painters, gardeners and physicians (publishers' foreword), the work was issued in 9 installments; the subscribers' list mentions only 66 names. The fine unsigned plates, assigned to Paul Theodor van Brussel (1754-1795) by Nissen, and illustrating tulips, hyacinths, auriculas, roses, poppies, lilies and other flowers, many animated with beetles, caterpillars or butterflies, "effectively illustrate both the beginnings of tulip culture and the period when the cultivars of the double hyacinth are said to have numbered one thousand" (Hunt). The first three plates of hyacinths appear to have been recent varieties, as they do not appear in Saint-Simon's Des Jacintes of 1768. Many of the most pleasing plates are copies of earlier flower illustrations, including 31 after Nicolas Robert, while the bugs and butterflies of these 31 are reminiscent of the work of Maria Sibylla Merian. The text includes remarks on the commercial value of each flower and advice on its hothouse care during the winter months.
A very good copy. Dunthorne 215; Hunt 733; Great Flower Books, p. 47; Landwehr Studies in Dutch Books with Coloured Plates 29; Nissen BBI 2219.
4 (252 x 200 mm). Hand-colored engraved title by H. L. Myling after Paul Theodor van Brussel, list of subscribers, 53 hand-colored engraved plates. (Very occasional faint spotting.) Contemporary marbled calf, sides with gilt ornamental borders, flat spine gilt panelled with lyre tools, red morocco lettering-piece (joints and corners slightly rubbed, inner hinges weak).
FIRST EDITION, "a symbol and representation of the ascendancy of the Dutch nurseryman" (Hunt). The identity of the members of the society of nurserymen who published the work is not known. Published for the benefit of painters, gardeners and physicians (publishers' foreword), the work was issued in 9 installments; the subscribers' list mentions only 66 names. The fine unsigned plates, assigned to Paul Theodor van Brussel (1754-1795) by Nissen, and illustrating tulips, hyacinths, auriculas, roses, poppies, lilies and other flowers, many animated with beetles, caterpillars or butterflies, "effectively illustrate both the beginnings of tulip culture and the period when the cultivars of the double hyacinth are said to have numbered one thousand" (Hunt). The first three plates of hyacinths appear to have been recent varieties, as they do not appear in Saint-Simon's Des Jacintes of 1768. Many of the most pleasing plates are copies of earlier flower illustrations, including 31 after Nicolas Robert, while the bugs and butterflies of these 31 are reminiscent of the work of Maria Sibylla Merian. The text includes remarks on the commercial value of each flower and advice on its hothouse care during the winter months.
A very good copy. Dunthorne 215; Hunt 733; Great Flower Books, p. 47; Landwehr Studies in Dutch Books with Coloured Plates 29; Nissen BBI 2219.