Details
JAN SWAMMERDAM (1637-1680)
Bybel der natuure ... Of Historie der insecten Bibliae naturae; sive historias insectorum. Edited by Hermann Boerhaave, Latin translation by Hieronimus David Gaubius. Leyden: Isaak Severinus, Boudewyn van der Aa and Pieter van der Aa, 1737-1738. 2 volumes, 2° (369 x 240mm). Text in Dutch and Latin. Titles printed in red and black. Engraved title vignettes. 53 engraved plates by Johannes van der Spyck after Swammerdam, all but the last folded and bound to throw clear. Woodcut tailpieces and initials. (Variable light spotting and browning, part-title I/\Kc\k1 misbound before title, small hole on I/6R2 affecting one line.) Contemporary Dutch blind-tooled vellum, the panelled boards with central strapwork lozenges containing the [?binder's] initials 'AR' and double-fillet borders, the spines divided into compartments by raised bands, lettered in early manuscript in one, the heads and tails decorated with star tools, sprinkled edges (vellum a little marked, boards slightly bowed, short splits on joints).
FIRST EDITION. SWAMMERDAM'S 'MOST REMARKABLE WORK' (Norman). Although Swammerdam originally trained as a physician at Leyden University, where he qualified as M.D. in 1667, his researches turned to minute anatomy, particularly that of insects, of which he had a large collection numbering more than 3,000 specimens. Some of these researches were published in Swammerdam's lifetime as Historia insectorum generalis (Utrecht: 1669); however, at the time of his death much remained unpublished until it appeared in this edition, which was prepared by Boerhaave (who had bought Swammerdam's manuscripts), following the directions in Swammerdam's will. The text of Bybel der natuure ... is composed of Boerhaave's biography of Swammerdam (which remains the principal biographical source for Swammerdam), and the unpublished entomological papers, integrated with the revised text of Historia insectorum generalis, and illustrated with engravings that had been prepared from Swammerdam's drawings under his direction. Bybel der natuure ... was subsequently translated into German (Leipzig: 1752) and English (London: 1758). BM (NH) V, p.2055; Brunet V, col.599; NLM/Blake p.440; Dibner Heralds (1980) 191; Nissen ZBI 4055; Norman 2037. (2)
Bybel der natuure ... Of Historie der insecten Bibliae naturae; sive historias insectorum. Edited by Hermann Boerhaave, Latin translation by Hieronimus David Gaubius. Leyden: Isaak Severinus, Boudewyn van der Aa and Pieter van der Aa, 1737-1738. 2 volumes, 2° (369 x 240mm). Text in Dutch and Latin. Titles printed in red and black. Engraved title vignettes. 53 engraved plates by Johannes van der Spyck after Swammerdam, all but the last folded and bound to throw clear. Woodcut tailpieces and initials. (Variable light spotting and browning, part-title I/\Kc\k1 misbound before title, small hole on I/6R2 affecting one line.) Contemporary Dutch blind-tooled vellum, the panelled boards with central strapwork lozenges containing the [?binder's] initials 'AR' and double-fillet borders, the spines divided into compartments by raised bands, lettered in early manuscript in one, the heads and tails decorated with star tools, sprinkled edges (vellum a little marked, boards slightly bowed, short splits on joints).
FIRST EDITION. SWAMMERDAM'S 'MOST REMARKABLE WORK' (Norman). Although Swammerdam originally trained as a physician at Leyden University, where he qualified as M.D. in 1667, his researches turned to minute anatomy, particularly that of insects, of which he had a large collection numbering more than 3,000 specimens. Some of these researches were published in Swammerdam's lifetime as Historia insectorum generalis (Utrecht: 1669); however, at the time of his death much remained unpublished until it appeared in this edition, which was prepared by Boerhaave (who had bought Swammerdam's manuscripts), following the directions in Swammerdam's will. The text of Bybel der natuure ... is composed of Boerhaave's biography of Swammerdam (which remains the principal biographical source for Swammerdam), and the unpublished entomological papers, integrated with the revised text of Historia insectorum generalis, and illustrated with engravings that had been prepared from Swammerdam's drawings under his direction. Bybel der natuure ... was subsequently translated into German (Leipzig: 1752) and English (London: 1758). BM (NH) V, p.2055; Brunet V, col.599; NLM/Blake p.440; Dibner Heralds (1980) 191; Nissen ZBI 4055; Norman 2037. (2)
Provenance
R. Friedländer & Sohn (bookseller's ticket on upper pastedown of volume I).
W. Heffer & Sons Ltd, Cambridge (bookseller's ticket on upper pastedown of volume I).
Dr Anton C.R. Dreesmann (inventory no. Y-20).
W. Heffer & Sons Ltd, Cambridge (bookseller's ticket on upper pastedown of volume I).
Dr Anton C.R. Dreesmann (inventory no. Y-20).
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