Catalogue 288 - Antiquariaat Junk

Catalogue 288
Fine Natural History Books
Antiquariaat Junk
natural History Booksellers since 1899

Catalogue 288
2010
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2
48 Thomson

Fine Natural History Books
Catalogue 288
Antiquariaat Junk B.V.
Allard Schierenberg and Jeanne van Bruggen
Van Eeghenstraat 129, NL-1071 GA Amsterdam The Netherlands
Telephone: +31-20-6763185 Telefax: +31-20-6751466
E-mail: books@antiquariaatjunk.com
www.antiquariaatjunk.com
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Please visit our website:
www.antiquariaatjunk.com
with thousands of colour pictures of fine Natural History books.
You will also find more pictures of the items displayed in this catalogue.
Frontcover illustration: No. 5 Arago
Backcover illustration: No. 45 Rémond
Frontispiece illustration: No. 48 Thomson
GENERAL CONDITIONS OF SALE
as filed with the registry of the District Court of Amsterdam on November 20th, 1981
under number 263 / 1981 are applicable in extenso to all our offers, sales, and deliveries.
THE PRICES
in this catalogue are net and quoted in Euro. As a result of the EU single Market legislation
we are required to charge our EU customers 6% V.A.T., unless they
possess a V.A.T. registration number. Postage additional, please do not send payment
before receipt of the invoice. All books are sold as complete and in good condition, unless
otherwise described.
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OUR V.A.T. NUMBER
NL 0093.49479B01
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1 Albin
[1] ALBIN, E. A Natural History of Birds... carefully colour’d by his
Daughter and Self, from the Originals, drawn from the live Birds. London,
Printed for the Author and sold by William Innys..., 1731-1738. 3
volumes. 4to (283 x 232mm). pp. (8), 96, (4); (8), 92, (2); (8), 95, (1), with
306 beautifully handcoloured engraved plates. Contemporary calf, sides
with richly gilt decorated borders, spines in 6 compartments with floral
gilt ornaments and birds and red and green gilt lettered labels, early 19th
century skilful rebacking of the spines. € 18.000
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THE EARLIEST COLOUR-PLATE BOOK ON BIRDS. An attractive uniformly
bound copy of the very scarce first edition. This beautifully illustrated work is the first
publication with coloured plates on British birds, although it comprises a few exotic
species. Eleazer Albin is one of the obscure 18th century natural history illustrators, and
apart from being a teacher of drawing and watercolour hardly anything is known of him.
Besides the above work he published a splendid work on the ‘Natural history of Insects’
and an attractive work on spiders. The plates of the above offered work were drawn by
the author and coloured with the help of his daughter Elisabeth and himself. The number
of copies must have been small and the subscribers in the first volume did not exceed 86.
This number includes famous collectors such as Hans Sloane and Albertus Seba as well as
aristocrats such as the Duke of Devonshire.
“Albin coloured the background as well as the birds, and was one of the first artists to set
each bird on a branch or other suitable perch, sometimes with the typical food of each
species as well... The importance of his books ... lies in the fact that some of his illustrations
and descriptions are the first of those particular species to appear and thus serve as
‘type specimens’... Albin did not work alone. He shared the task of drawing, engraving
and colouring the plates with his daughter, Elisabeth (c. 1708-41). She has the distinction
of being the first woman known to have worked as an illustrator of bird books, signing
forty-one of the plates as having been her work alone. Her style, too, was distinctive,
softer and more delicate than her father’s, and she was evidently more painstaking, painting
with lighter, shorter strokes of the brush” (J. Elphick, Birds, the art of ornithology
pp. 32-33). Twenty of the plates concern birds of prey some of which are important for
hawking such as the Sparrow Hawk ‘... it is a bold courageous bird, and frequently train’d
up and made for Hawking’, The Hobby ‘The Fowlers to catch these Hawks take a Lark,
and having blinded her, and fastened Lime-twigs to her Legs, let her fly where they see the
Hobby is, which striking at the Lark is entangled with the Lime-twigs; it is called in English
the Hobby, after the French name Hobreau’, The Lanneret ‘...very fit for all sorts of
Game, as well Water-Fowl, as land; for it catches not only Pies, Quails, Partridges, Crows,
Pheasants, &c. but also Ducks, yea and Cranes too, being trained up thereto by human
Industry’, The Goshawk ‘It takes not only Partidges and Pheasants, but also greater Fowls,
as Geese and Cranes...’
The colouring of the plates is exquisite and more refined than in the later issues.
Fine Bird Books, p. 54; Nissen IVB, 14.
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1
[2] ALBIN, E. A Natural History of Spiders, and other Curious Insects.
Illustrated with Fifty three copper plates, engraved by the best hands.
London, printed by John Tilly for R. Montagu, 1736. 4to (285 x 222mm).
pp. (8), 76, with a handcoloured frontispiece showing Albin seated on a
horse and surrounded by spiders and mites, and 53 handcoloured engraved

2 Albin
plates. Contemporary calf, sides with broad gilt border with crowns and
central monogram ER with crown, richly gilt ornamented spine with red
gilt lettered label (old skilful repair to hinges). € 3900
A beautifully bound copy of noble provenance ruled in red. Eleazar Albin (fl. 1713-1759)
was an excellent artist and his interest in natural history led him to produce books on
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irds, insects and spiders, all illustrated by himself. The first entomological book with
coloured plates published in England was Albin’s ‘A Natural History of English insects’,
published in 1720. “... his book, called ‘A Natural History of Spiders and other Curious
Insects’, was published in 1726. He had made drawings of nearly 150 spiders, which were
not, in fact all different species... He cannot however be denied a historical importance.
He was the first London arachnologist, and the first successor to Lister. He must have
looked for spiders... with greater diligence and skill than Lister, for he found perhaps
three times as many different kinds... It is a pleasant enough book to handle, and by the
standards of its time was well produced; and since there were at least some copies in which
the engravings were hand-coloured, it is pleasant to glance at...” (Savory. Spiders, Men,
and Scorpions p. 47). A very fine copy of the rare coloured issue.
Provenance: Old armorial bookplate ‘Honi soit qui mal y pense’, and a more recent bookplate
‘Johannishus Bibliotek’.
Nissen ZBI, 60.
1
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[3] ALBUM OF ORIGINAL WATER-
COLOURS OF LEPIDOPTERA.
[France ca. 1770]. 8vo (192 x 136mm).
Twenty-nine leaves of superbly painted
butterflies, 16 leaves have 2 plates on
a leaf. All plates are within a doubleborder.
Contemporary red morocco,
richly gilt decorated borders, gilt ornamented
spine with floral tools. € 6500
A superbly produced album by an accomplished
entomological artist and bound in an
attractive red morocco binding. None of the
illustrations are signed. At the bottom of each
plate the Latin as well as the French names are
written, making reference to E.L. Geoffroy ‘s
‘Histoire abrégée des insectes’ Paris 1762. The
text for example on the first plate reads as fol-
3 Album
lows: Papilio Nymphalis Antiopa, Le Morio.
Geoffr. 1. This agrees with the no 1 of Geoffroy’s work, see vol. 2 page 35. It will be difficult
to establish the artist, most likely the album was made by a French artist between
1762 and 1800. The quality of the plates is so refined that the artist must have been an
entomologist. The plates are very similar, in format as well as in style, to Marguerite
Lecomte’s ‘Suite de Papillons’ Bologne 1765. A copy of this rare suite of entomological
engravings was recently sold in Paris (20 june 2006) at the Berès sale.
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4 Andrews
[4] ANDREWS, H.C. Coloured Engravings of Heaths. The drawings
taken from living plants only. With the appropriate specific character,
full description, native place of growth, and time of flowering of each;
in Latin and English. Each figure accompanied by accurate dissections of
the several parts (magnified where necessary) upon which the specific distinction
has been founded, according to the Linnaean System. London,
T. Bensley (vol I), R. Taylor (vols II-IV) for the Author, (1794-) 1802-1809
(-1830). 4 volumes. Folio (415 x 258mm). With engraved dedication leaf
and 288 hand-coloured engraved plates; some very occasional spotting, a
remarkably clean and bright copy, in contemporary green morocco, gilt
panels on sides, spines elaborately gilt, gilt edges. € 34.000
First edition, with the rare fourth volume, of Andrews’ ‘finest achievement ... noble in
conception and impressive in execution’ (Blunt). Andrews drew and engraved all his
plates, wrote most of the text and, according to Dunthorne, even did his own colouring.
This work exemplifies the ‘erica-mania’ that dominated English horticulture at the beginning
of the nineteenth century. Numerous newly discovered South African species were
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eing introduced through the enterprise of nurserymen like Lee and Kennedy, and several
hundred species and varieties were available and in cultivation.
This copy contains all the indexes, dedication, address, introduction, dissertation, list of
heaths cultivated by Lee and Kennedy at the Vineyard Nursery in Hammersmith, systematical
arrangements, etc. In common with other copies seen, the titlepage of volume
IV is in fact the title from volume II with the number altered by hand. The work was
published in parts, and volume IV appeared over a twenty-year period from 1810 to 1830.
Few complete copies survive, and most sets comprise only the first three volumes, with
occasionally a fragment of the fourth.
Dunthorne 9; Great flower books p. 47; Johnston 674 (vols I-III only); Nissen BBI 31;
Stafleu and Cowan 134.
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[5] ARAGO, J. A collection of 8 original watercolours or pen drawings all
signed by Jacques Etienne Victor Arago. Arago was the official artist during
the voyage around the world on the ships ‘Uranie’ and ‘Physicienne’
under the command of Captain Louis Freycinet, during the years 1817,
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5 Arago

5 Arago
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1818, 1819 and 1820. This highly
interesting collection comprises
the following:
1) A superb watercolour (35 x
42cm) of a ritual dance by 12
natives of Guam, the drawing
has the following handwritten
title ‘Danses exécutées et appelées
dans le pays Danses des
Antiques’. 1819. In the upper
margin is written Guham 1819.
The drawing was used as an illustration
for ‘Journal du voyage
autour du monde’ by Rose
de Freycinet, the wife of Captain
Freycinet. In his own work
‘Souvenirs d’un aveugle, voyage
autour du monde’ 1839, Arago
writes several chapters of the na-
5 Arago
tives and their customs of the
island Guam (Mariana Islands). The picture is mounted in a gold painted
frame.
2) Pencil and charcoal drawing (29 x 36cm) ‘Vue de grand bassin de l’Ile de
France, 1818’. The drawing was not published. It shows Rose Freycinet on
the edge of the lake with a picnic and hunting party. Next to her is Arago
drawing a picture. ‘Le Grand Bassin’ in the south of the Island, is now a
place of pilgrimage for the Hindu, who believe its waters are purifying.
3) Charcoal drawing (39 x 28cm) ‘Cascade du Reduit. Ile de France’. The
drawing was not published. On the foreground are some people, one of
which is Arago in the process of drawing a picture.
4). Watercolour (39 x 27cm), mainly butterflies, with following handwritten
title ‘Voyage de l’Uranie, Insectes pl. n. 11. The lower margin with following
insciption ‘Ile de France 1818’.
5-8) Watercolour drafts (25 x 19cm), all showing insects for plates 7, 13,
14, 16 of ‘Voyage de l’Uranie, Insectes’, all with pen inscriptions.
€ 19.000
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Jacques Etienne Victoire Arago (1790-1855), was the official artist on the French vessel
‘Uranie’ under the command of Louis de Freycinet. In his journals Freycinet tells the
following about him: “No one onboard proved to be neither more patient, more bold,
nor more intelligent, either to face storms, or to endure the cruelest deprivations”. His
artwork is of a very high quality and important as the pictures give early impressions of
the Pacific. “The work of Jacques Arago, Freycinet’s artist, both in his illustrations and in
his writings, is highly coloured by romantic attitudes... Arago presents his savages as fine
physical specimens and gives them the air of wild dignity.. (B. Smith, European vision
and the South Pacific p. 329). Louis Claude de Freycinet (1779-184) was a French navigator
and explorer. His expedition around the world is noted for its scientific discoveries
and is important for our knowledge of the Pacific. The expedition was organised by the
French government primarily to make observations on geography, magnetism and meteorology,
though its naturtal history discoveries were to prove of equal value. Rose de
Freycinet was ‘smuggled on board because she could not bear to be separated from her
husband, Rose’s presence was made public to the crew only after the vessel was well out of
sight of the French coast. The crew was not entirely comfortable with the situation, but it
is clear from her journal that Rose fashioned herself a good sailor and enjoyed life at sea”
(Hill 652). Rose de Freycinet thus became the first woman to land in Western Australia
and to see many Pacific Islands. - see front cover illustration.
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[6] AUBUSSON, L.M. D' La Fauconnerie au Moyen Age et dans les
temps modernes. Paris, A. Ghio, 1879. 8vo (220 x 140mm). pp. viii, 272.
Contemporary green half calf, gilt ornamented spine in 6 compartments.
€ 1200
An attractively bound copy. ‘A work which no student of the history of Falconry should
neglect. Amongst the ‘Pièces Justificatives’ at the end of the volume will be found a chro-
nological list of the Grand Falconers of France; extracts showing the expenses attending
the maintenance of hawking in France, from the Household Accounts of François I,
Henri I, Louis XIII, Louis XIV, Louis XVI; the state of Falconry at the court of France in
1785, etc. etc’ (Harting, Bibliotheca Accipitraria 211). The work has a special chapter on
‘La Fauconnerie chez les Arabes’, by Général Daumas.
With the armorial bookplate of Chev. A. de Melotte.
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[7] BARRANDE, J. Système Silurien du Centre de la Bohême. Première
partie: RECHERCHES PALEONTOLOGIQUES (all published!).
Prague & Paris, chez l’auteur & éditeur, 1852-1902. 8 sections (bound in
30 volumes). 4to. ca. pp. 8000, with 1700 lithographed plates. Original
cloth, covers blind stamped, spines with gilt lettering (3 volumes re-bound
to match, one volume in wrappers). € 11.500
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Joachim Barrande (1799-1883) “collected,
described, and drew the fossils
of the central Bohemian basin
- this area has been called the Barrandian
ever since. The strata of this
basin are Proterozoic - early Paleozoic
in age. The results formed the
outstanding monograph ‘Système
Silurien’. Because this work is so
comprehensive, its drawings so accurate,
and its descriptions so fine,
it is still used as a reference book
by paleontologists (D.B.S. I, pp.
468/469). Zittel (pp. 445/446) called
this handbook “a work which stands
almost unrivalled in palaeontological
literature”. Contents as follows, volume
I: Trilobites - II: Céphalopodes
- III: Ptéropodes - IV: Gastéropodes
- V: Brachiopodes - VI: Acéphales
- VII: Echinodermes: Cystidées
- VIII: Bryozoaires, Hydrozoaires,
Anthozoaires, Alcyonaires. A com-
7 Barrande
plete set of this monumental classic
on the paleontology of Bohemia, which was privately printed in a very small limited edition
of 250 copies only. First volume supplied in xerox-copies.
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[8] BELON, P. La nature & diversité des poissons. Avec leurs pourtraicts,
representez au plus pres du naturel. Paris, Charles Estienne, 1555.
Oblong-8vo (105 x 165mm). (20) leaves, pp. 448, with 192 woodcuts in the
text. Contemporary limp vellum, gilt edges. € 6500
A very fine copy of the first French edition. “Belon is looked upon as the founder of
modern ichthyology as well as an authority on ornithology. The illustrations of fishes
and some other aquatic animals in this volume are of exceptional quality for the sixteenth
century, although some of them are fanciful.” (Wood p. 230). The present work
is a translation of his “De Aquatilibus ...” printed in 1553, it describes about 110 species
of fishes of which 94 marine. ‘Belon’s treatise contains figures of several molluscs which
are among the earliest to be published (the very first being of a crawling snail reproduced
in Conrad von Megenberg’s ‘Puoch der Natur’ published in 1475” (‘Delight for the eyes
and the mind’ by Peter Dance). Belon was a student of Valerius Cordus and became one
of the first explorer-naturalists of the near East. In Rome he met the zoologists Rondelet
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and Salviani, both eminent disciples of ichthyology after Aristotle, both of whom published
important illustrated works on fishes. Apart from fishes the above work depicts a
whale, dolphin, beaver, otter, crocodiles, tortoise, hippopotamus, as well as the famous
sea-monk, which supposedly washed on a beach in 1531. “Belon enriched the biological
sciences by new observations and contributed greatly to the progress of the natural history
in the sixteenth century ... (his) observations were generally correct. He looked at
the world as an analyst devoted to detail. He succeeded in winning the confidence of the
great and was famous during his lifetime” (DSB).
Nissen ZBI, 303.
8 Belon
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[9] BERLÈSE, L. (Abbé). Iconographie du genre Camellia ou description
et figures des Camellia les plus beaux et les plus rares. Paris, H.
Cousin (1839-) 1841-43. 6 volumes. Folio (450 x 314mm). With 300 stippleengraved
plates printed in colours and finished by hand; a fine copy, in
mid-nineteenth century French green half morocco and marbled sides,
with gilt spines in compartments with the crowned monogram of Prince
Philip of Belgium on spines, gilt edges. € 150.000
First edition, extremely rare Large Paper folio issue, copy of Prince Philip of Belgium and
by descent two Kings of Belgium, Albert I and Leopold III, of this celebrated monograph
on camellias. This is one of two known large-paper copies (the other being Doheny, which
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had one plate inlaid to size); it has an unrecorded four-page dedication at the beginning
of volume three addressed ‘A Messieurs les Membres de la Société Royale d’Horticulture
de Paris’, in common with the Doheny copy (Christie’s New York, February 21 1989, lot
1701). It is the finest copy I have ever seen. ‘Camellias reached their maximum popularity
in Europe between 1825 and 1870, during which period an immense number of seedlings
obtained by crossing variants of Camellia japonica were raised and named, mostly by
the Abbé L. Berlèse and the Belgian nurserymen Alexandre and Ambroise Vershaffelt...
The Abbé Berlèse was an Italian priest, born at Campo Molino, near Treviso, north Italy,
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9 Berlèse

9 Berlèse
who went to Paris as a chaplain. He there became very interested in camellias, brought
together a large collection of the living plants, studied them carefully and described them
in detail, this work being the most important of his publications. He sold his collection
in 1846 and returned to Italy’ (W.T. Stearn, Society of Herbalists, An exhibition of flower
17

ooks from the library, London 1953 n. 62). The highly finished plates were drawn by J.J.
Jung from the varieties growing in the gardens and hothouses of Berlèse, engraved by
Duménil, Gabriel and Oudet and printed by N. Rémond.
Provenance: Prince Philip of Belgium, count of Flanders (1837-1905), son of Leopold I,
King of Belgium and cousin to Queen Victoria; his son Albert I, then Leopold III, Kings
of Belgium, by descent .
Nissen BBI; Dunthorne 30; Great Flower Books, p. 50.
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[10] BLACKWELL, E. A Curious Herbal, containing five hundred cuts
of the most useful Plants, which are now used in the Practice of Physick.
Engraved on folio copper plates after Drawings, taken from the Life.
London, Samuel Harding, 1739. 2 volumes. Folio (365 x 235mm). With
two engraved titles, 1 leaf with engraving of Theophrastus and Dioscorides,
5 dedicatory leaves, 3 engraved index leaves and 500 hand-coloured
engraved plates, each with an explanatory leaf of text. Contemporary calf,
sides with gilt border, spines with gilt lines and lettering (skilful repair to
hinges). € 25.000
The most famous English Herbal of the eighteenth century also re-issued in German. The
bibliographical history is complicated and not fully documented. ‘There is no uniformity
with regard to the number of dedications contained in the various issues, or in the order
in which the preliminary leaves are arranged’ (Henrey).
Elizabeth Blackwell undertook the work with the encouragement of various eminent
members of the medical profession and with the intention of paying off her husband Alexander’s
debts. She took a house opposite Chelsea Physic Garden, at 4 Swan Walk, at the
suggestion of Isaac Reed, in order to draw and engrave the plants. Her husband helped
by supplying the common names of the plants in various languages. The work was a success,
and she achieved her object. She accompanied her husband to Sweden where he was
employed as an agricultural expert (Linnaeus visited him in 1746) but he unfortunately
became involved in politics, was arrested and eventually executed on 29th July 1747, for
his part in a conspiracy to alter the Swedish succession. Elizabeth died in 1758, and is
buried in the churchyard of Chelsea Old Church.
Dunthorne 42; Great Flower Books, p. 50; Henrey 452; Hunt 510; Nissen BBI 168; Stafleu
& Cowan TL2 545.
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10 Blackwell
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[11] BOCK, H. De Stirpium,
maxime earum, quae in Germania
nostra nascuntur... His accesserunt
a fronte praefationes
duae: altera D. Conradi Gesneri...
rei herbariae scriptorum,
qui in hunc usq; diem scripserunt,
catalogum complectens:
altera ipsius Authoris, herbariae
cognitiones laudes... Adiectus
est Benedicti Textoris Segusiani
de stirpium differentiis... Strassburg,
Wendel Rihel, 1552. 2 parts
bound in 2 volumes. 4to (200 x
150mm). pp. (lxviii), 1200, (64),
with handcoloured woodcut por-
11 Bock
trait of Bock and 568 fine handcoloured
woodcuts in the text. Recent blindstamped pigskin over bevelled
wooden boards, with clasps. € 14.000
A fine contemporary handcoloured copy of the first Latin edition, translated by David
Kyber, with 38 new woodcuts which appear for the first time, and the first edition to
include the Gesner and Tessier material. The first illustrated German edition of Bock,
was published in 1546, and contained 468 woodcuts (enlarged to 530 in the 1551 edition)
by David Kandel. Kandel for the most part based his woodcuts on those of Fuchs and
Brunfels, but some one hundred are entirely original, and include several with charming
genre scenes accompanying the plant depictions, many with his initials.
Bock was one of the ‘Fathers of German Botany’, the triumvirate that included Brunfels
and Fuchs. As a botanist Bock was their decided superior. He was not shackled to the
classical authority of Dioscorides and Pliny, and therefore could recognise new plants
without his perception being clouded by supposed classical precedents. He pioneered
descriptive botany, giving a detailed developmental history of each plant in its stages of
growth, and was the first to discuss plant communities, thus foreshadowing the science
of ecology. Gesner’s contribution to this edition comprises a preface to the work and a
50-page bibliography of botanical writers, constituting the first botanical bibliography.
Tessier provided a commentary on Dioscorides.
A few leaves with old repairs, including inner margin of title. Some running titles and
shoulder notes shaved. Apart from a very light marginal staining on the first leaves of the
first volume, a crisp and fine copy in attractive contemporary colouring.
Durling 597; Hunt 66; Nissen BBI, 183; Stafleu & Cowan TL2 576.
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12 Born
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[12] BORN, I. Testacea Musei Caesarei Vindobonensis. Vienna, J.P.
Kraus, 1780. Large-Folio (430 x 290mm). pp. xxxv, 442, (18), with 1 engraved
title-vignette, 11 engraved vignettes, 18 handcoloured engraved
plates and 35 engravings in the text. Recent half calf, spine with 6 raised
bands, red gilt lettered label, marbled sides. € 6300
The first fully illustrated edition; an edition in 8vo.-size (with 1 plate only) has been published
in 1778. A beautifully produced book of the Golden Age of Viennese natural history
book production, which was patronized by the House of Habsburg. One of the most
famous works on conchology. The Empress of Austria, Maria Theresia (1717-1780) had a
Museum in Vienna containing a large collection of shells. She instructed Born to publish
the above work on the imperial collection in a sumptuous volume. The collection, now
housed in the Natural History Museum in Vienna, is of great importance to systematists,
as Born described from it a number of species new to science. A clean uncut copy of this
rare and beautiful conchological classic.
Nissen ZBI, 470.
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1
[13] BROWN, T. Illustrations of the Game Birds of North America
Chiefly the size of Nature. Edinburgh, Frazer & Co.; Dublin, William
Curry Jnr. & Co.; Glasgow, John Smith & Son; London, Smith, Elder
& Co., 1834. Folio (546 x 410mm). With engraved title by James Turvey,
engraved dedication, and 16 finely hand-coloured engraved plates after
Thomas Brown, A.Rider, J.B.Kidd, and others, engraved by W.H.Lizars
and others, a few minor restorations to plate edges, plates laid on old tissue
and watermarked 1831-1835. Publisher’s brown cloth gilt with embossed
pattern, morocco title-label on upper cover, rebacked to match (in a modern
cloth box). € 38.000
Extremely rare. The scarcest book on American Game-Birds. According to Walter Faxon
only three copies of this work could be found in 1919, and only one copy (with 15 of the
16 plates) is listed as having sold at auction in the last one hundred years (Sotheby’s 10
December 1909, lot 951).
Although this work essentially contains a selection of the plates from Brown’s larger work
‘Illustrations of American Ornithology’, 1831-35, they are coloured in a softer, less bold
manner that appears to give a more life like appearance. The ‘Game Birds’ was issued
before the completion of the ‘American Ornithology’.
Zimmer, p.102; Fine Bird Books (1990) p. 82; W.Faxon, The Auk 36, 1919, p. 626; Nissen
IVB, 153.
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13 Brown
[14] BRUNFELS, O. Herbarium Vivae Eicones ad naturae imitationem
... Strassburg, J. Schott, 1532. [with:] Novi Herbarii Tomvs II. Strassburg,
J. Schott, 1536. Folio (285 x 185mm). pp. (viii), 266, (66, including final
blank); pp. 313, 5, (2, blank), title of first volume in woodcut border, full
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14 Brunfels
page woodcut coat of arms of Strassburg, 4 woodcut ornamental borders,
and 138 woodcuts of plants, mostly full page. Recent full blind tooled morocco,
spine in 8 compartments with gilt lettering. € 9500
Both volumes in the second edition. The first edition of the first volume is exceedingly
rare. “A genuine milestone in the history of the botanical sciences.. “ (Tomasi & Willis.
An Oak Spring Herbaria p. 31). A celebrated herbal which marks an epoch in the history
of botanic illustration. It was the first herbal illustrated with drawings which are throughout
both beautiful and true to nature. The plants are represented as they are in the greatest
possible artistic perfection by Weiditz one of the best German illustrators, whose name
appears in the book. “Weiditz accepted Nature as he found her. Was a leaf torn or drooping,
a flower withered?- he observed the fact with the cold eye of the realist and recorded it
with the precision of a true craftsman. The beauty was never wantonly sacrificed to mere
scientific accuracy; the poet in him always triumphed, the artist in him always prevailed.
His work must ever remain the high-water mark of woodcutting employed in the service
of botanical illustration” (Blunt p. 47). Posthumously a third volume was published in
1536 by Michael Herr, which is seldon found with the first two volumes, and which was
illustrated by an other artist.
A fine and clean copy, a few leaves trimmed closely affecting some of the shoulder notes.
Nissen BBI, 257, 1b & 257, 2b.
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24

[15] CAMPER, A. Description succincte
du Musée de Pierre Camper,
par son fils Adrien Camper. Amsterdam
& La Haye, chez les Frères
van Cleef, 1811. 8vo (210 x 125mm).
pp. viii, 93. Contemporary half red
morocco, spine in 5 compartments,
with gilt lettering and monogram.
€ 2800
The catalogue of Petrus Camper’s cabinet.
Petrus Camper (1722-1789) was one of the
most famous Dutch physicians of the 18th
century. In 1755 Camper was appointed professor
of anatomy and surgery at the Athenaeum
Illustre in Amsterdam.
“Heir of the cabinet of natural history and
medical objects of his father, which was
bought by King William I for the University
of Groningen (1820). During the great fire
in 1906 the collection was partly destroyed.
15 Camper
Part of his paleontological collection is at
Haarlem (Teyler Museum). For several years Camper corresponded with George Cuvier,
whom he supplied with descriptions and drawings of the fossils of his cabinet” (Hendrik
Engel’s Alphabetical List of Dutch Zoological Cabinets and Menageries, 273). The catalogue
consists of an introduction, first section ‘Anatomie du corps humain, combinée
avec la pathologie’; second section ‘Anatomie et squelettes de mammifères’; third section
‘Débris d’animaux et de végétaux fossiles’; fourth section ‘Fossiles, Minéraux’. This last
section is the largest one covering pages 55-93.
Engel 273.
1
[16] CANDOLLE, A.P. DE. Astragalogia nempe Astragali, Biserrulae et
Oxytropidis nec non Phacae, Colutae et Lessertiae, historia iconibus illustrata.
Parisiis, J.B. Garnery, 1802. Large-folio (560 x 360 mm). pp. viii,
218, with 50 engraved plates (by Pierre Joseph Redouté). Contemporary
blind stiff boards, spine with gilt-lettered black label. € 5500
“Two folio editions of this work were published in 1802, of which this is the large paper.
The small paper folio, according to Nissen, has 269 pages” (Cat. Redoutéana, pp. 44-45 ).
25

Candolle in his ‘Memoires’ gives a charming picture of the composition of the work with
Desfontaines: “Tous deux, aux coins de sa cheminee, nous passions nos matinees, lui à
achever sa ‘Flore Atlantique’ et moi à decrire mes astragales; nous consultions reciproquement
sur les objects qui exigeaient des observations delicates”.
“All of these publications have retained their scientific importance not in the least because
of the exact and informative drawings by Redouté. The same is true of A.P. De Candolle’s
botanical monographs ‘Astragalogia’(1802) and ‘Strophanthus’ (1803). Both these books
are now collector’s items: the large paper edition of the former as well as all copies of the
latter are very rare” (Cat. Redoutéana p. 18).
All the magnificent plates are after drawings by P.J. Redouté, engraved by Plée, Tardieu,
a.o. A fine uncut copy.
Stafleu & Cowan 984; Nissen BBI, 319.
26
16 Candolle
1
[17] CHENU, J.C. Bibliothèque Conchyliologiques. Series I-II (all publ).
Paris, A. Franck, 1845-1846. 5 volumes. Small-4to. With 195 lithographed
or engraved plates. Contemporary half calf, gilt spines with 2 black gilt
lettered labels, marbled sides. € 3900
B.M.(N.H.) I, 341. French translations by a famous French conchologist of important

17 Chenu
publications on conchology in the English language. It comprises the following works:
Series I, vol. 1: DONOVAN, E. Histoire Naturelle des Coquilles d’Angleterre. pp. 127,
with 48 lithographed plates; vol. 2: MARTYN, T. Le Conchyliologiste Universel ou figures
des Coquilles jusqu’à présent inconnues recueillies en divers voyages à la Mer du
Sud depuis l’année 1764. pp. 32, with 56 engraved plates; vol. 3: SAY, T. Conchyliologie
Américaine ou descriptions et figures des Coquilles du Nord de l’Amerique. pp. 64, with
17 lithographed plates; LEACH, W.E. Mélanges Zoologiques. pp. 23, with 9 lithographed
plates; CONRAD, T.A. Nouvelles Coquilles d’eau douce des Etats-Unies. pp. 36, with
4 lithographed plates; RAFINESQUE, M.C.S. Monographie des Coquilles bivalves fluviatiles
de la rivière Ohio. pp. 30, (1), with 4 lithographed plates; vol. 4: MONTAGU.
Testacea Britannica ou histoire naturelle des Coquilles marines, fluviatiles et terrestres
d’Angleterre. pp. xix, 364, with 14 lithographed plates; vol. 5: TRANSACTIONS de
la Société Linnéenne de Londres. Partie Conchyliologique. pp. viii, 376, with 43 lithographed
plates. An attractively bound clean set.
1
[18] CUVIER, G. & VALENCIENNES, A. Histoire Naturelle des Poissons.
Paris, F.G. Levrault, 1828-1849. 23 volumes. 8vo (208 x 125mm).
With 657 (17 plain) beautifully handcoloured engraved plates. Later half
calf, spines with red gilt lettered label. € 14.000
A rare complete copy of the most important iconography on fishes published in the 19th
27

century. Three issues of the work were published, one with plain plates, one with the
plates coloured and one printed on large paper in quarto with the plates coloured. The
present issue is the rare handcoloured edition in 8vo.
“Nearly all that was known about fishes during the first half of the nineteenth century
was summarized by Georges Cuvier and his pupil and successor, Achille Valenciennes, in
the monumental ‘Histoire Naturelle des Poissons’. ... (It) contains descriptions of 4,514
nominal species, the greater portion, approximately two-thirds, written by Valenciennes
after the death of Cuvier in 1832. To-day the work of Cuvier and Valenciennes is indispensable
to systematic ichthyology ... In many parts of the world people assisted Cuvier with
notes, manuscripts, and particularly specimens. For many years the Jardin des Plantes
was the center where all ichthyological materials were deposited. Thus, Cuvier was able to
bring together the richest and largest contemporary collection of fishes. Althogether, his
vast communication network, huge world-wide collections, and extensive ichthyological
library, made Paris the center of ichthyology and Cuvier the foremost ichthyologist in the
world” (T.W. Pietsch in ‘Archives of Nat. Hist, 12, 1’).
The plates belong to the very best ever made, no ichthyological work equals the delicacy
of colouring and the precision of engraving. Some occasional light foxing and browning
as usual. The plain plates are plates of detail.
Provenance: Circular library stamp of Middle Temple on titles and a few in the text.
Nissen, ‘Schöne Fischbücher’, 46; B.M.(Nat. Hist.)I, 411.
1
28
18 Cuvier

19 Daubenton
29

[19] DAUBENTON, E.L. & MARTINET, N. [Planches enluminées
d'histoire naturelle: ENTOMOLOGIE...]. (Paris, Panckoucke, 1765-83).
Large-folio (450 x 315mm), with 35 hand-coloured engraved plates of butterflies
and other subjects drawn and engraved by Martinet. Early 19th
century half calf, richly decorated spine in 6 compartments. € 4800
First edition, large paper copy. This is the rare and often lacking final part of mostly entomological
plates of Daubenton’s ‘Planches enluminées d’histoire naturelle’. The ‘Planches
enluminées’ is the most famous and influential suite of ornithological plates of the eighteenth
century. This work was issued in 42 cahiers, each containing 24 plates, without text
or title. They were drawn and engraved by Martinet, an engineer by profession, under
the supervision of Daubenton the younger. Under the direction of Buffon, Martinet had
commenced in 1765 to draw, engrave, and paint animal portraits, which were published
in parts of 24 plates each by Panckoucke under the title ‘Collection de planches d’histoire
naturelle enluminées’. There was no accompanying text except the vernacular names of
the birds (often from Brisson). The collection, which is cited under the title ‘Planches
enluminées d’histoire naturelle par Martinet, executées par d’Aubenton le jeune’... was
called ‘Daubenton’s Planches enluminées’ or simply ‘Planches enluminées’. During the
first five years about 500 plates were published, and more than eighty artists and assistants
were engaged on the work.
Publication went on till about 1783, when 42 cahiers comprising a total of 1008 plates had
been published, 973 of which contained figures of birds, while the remaining 35 plates
represented other animals, notably insects, more especially butterflies and beetles, and
also toads, reptiles, and corals” (Anker p. 108).
These plates were also utilised for the grand edition of Buffon’s birds, the ‘Histoire naturelle
des oiseaux’ (1770-86), but the ‘Planches enluminées’ is their first appearance, the
rarest, the best coloured, and in the largest format (they also appeared in small folio format).
28 of the plates concern entomology, mostly beetles and butterflies, 4 show corals,
and 3 amphibians and reptiles.
Fine bird books p 69 (with 3 stars); Mengel 645; Nissen IVB 158; see Zimmer 105.
1
[20] DONOVAN, E. Natural history of the insects of China, containing
upwards of two hundred and twenty figures and descriptions. A new edition,
brought down to the present state of the science, with systematic
characters of each species, synonyms, indexes, and other additional matter,
by J.O. Westwood. London, H.G. Bohn, 1842. 4to (301 x 235 mm).
pp. (6), 96, with 50 handcoloured engraved plates. Contemporary half red
calf, spine with 5 raised bands, gilt entomological ornaments and lettering
(corners rubbed), topedges gilt. € 5500
The second and last edition of the most beautiful book published on the insects of China.
30

20 Donovan
The first edition was published in
1798.
Edward Donovan (1768-1837)
published a number of fine illustrated
zoological works and ‘was
particularly fond of using bright
colours in his plates’ (Buchanan,
Nature into Art p. 179). He was
an inveterate collector of natural
objects and had his own museum.
Most of the plates depict butterflies
together with exotic plants.
Provenance: Bookplate of John
Hopton of Can-frome, in the
County of Hereford.
Nissen, ZBI 1143; B.M. (Nat.
Hist) I, p. 473.
1
[21] EERELMAN, O & QUADEKKER, E.A.L. Paardenrassen. Kunstalbum
van een en veertig afbeeldingen naar schilderijen van Otto Eerelman.
Met beschrijvingen door E.A.L. Quadekker. Zutphen, Schillemans
& Van Belkum, (1898). Large folio (620 x 470mm). With 41 chromolithographed
plates of horses and accompanying letterpress text in 10 original
paper portfolios, preserved in the publisher’s pictorial richly gilt cloth
portfolio. € 17.000
The rare first limited edition of probably the finest 19th century work on horses. Our
copy has the list of subscribers which lists a number of Dutch nobility. The fine plates
are after paintings by Eerelman and chromo-lithographs are by J.L. Goffart, the text is by
Quadekker. Otto Eerelman (1839-1926) was a famous Dutch animal painter, specializing
on hordes and dogs. He likewise painted several portraits of Princes Wilhelmina and later
as Queen. At the Royal Palace ‘Het Loo’ there is painting by him of Queen Wilhelmina
riding a horse. The first horse of the present album is Woyko, Wilhelmina’s favorite horse,
a mixture of an Arabic stallion and a Hungarian mare. Among the horses shown in the
album are the Arab Horse, American Race Horse, Andalusian Horse, English Fullbread,
Lippizaner Horse, Hannover Horse, Hungarian Horse, Turkish Horse, Russian Race
Horse etc. Each plate is accompanied by a 4 page descriptive text. Some plates towards the
end with some occasional offsetting on opposite textleaves. A fine copy of this superbly
produced work showing the thoroughbreds of the world.
1
31

[22] EHRENBERG, C.G. Die Infusionsthierchen als vollkommene Organismen.
Ein Blick in das tiefere organische Leben der Natur. Leipzig,
L. Voss, 1838. 2 volumes (text & atlas). Folio (455 x 330mm). pp. xviii, (4),
547, (1), with 1 engraved separate atlas-title and 64 handcoloured engraved
plates. Contemporary half calf, gilt ornamented spines with green gilt lettered
label in 7 compartments, top edges gilt (atlas with small skilful repair).
€ 5000
“Ehrenberg’s great contribution to biology was his work on the infusiora, the results of
which were published originally in a number of brief essays and afterwards in the important
and splendid work entitled ‘Die Infusionsthierchen’ printed in 1838. The result
of this and other works of his was that the number of known Infusiora was considerably
increased, and their classification essentially advanced” (Nordenskiöld p. 427). The
excellent plates all after Ehrenberg’s own drawings. Ehrenberg studied at the University
of Berlin (M.D., 1818) and was associated with the university throughout his career. He
took part in a scientific expedition (1820–25) to Egypt, Libya, the Sudan, and the Red Sea
under the auspices of the university and the Prussian Academy of Sciences. The expedition’s
only survivor, he collected about 34,000 animal and 46,000 plant specimens. With
Alexander von Humboldt, he participated in 1829 in an expedition, sponsored by Tsar
Nicholas I of Russia, to Central Asia and Siberia. For nearly 30 years Ehrenberg examined
32
21 Eerelman

22 Ehrenberg
samples of water, soil, sediment, blowing dust and rock and described thousands of new
species, among them well-known flagellates such as Euglena, ciliates such as Paramecium
aurelia and Paramecium caudatum, and many fossils, in nearly 400 scientific publications.
He was particularly interested in a unicellular group of protists called diatoms, but
he also studied, and named, many species of radiolaria and foraminifera.
After his death in 1876, his collections of microscopic organisms were deposited in the
Museum für Naturkunde at the University of Berlin. The “Ehrenberg Collection” includes
40,000 microscope preparations, 5,000 raw samples, 3,000 pencil and ink drawings,
and nearly 1,000 letters of correspondence. A fine copy of this very rare work.
Garrison & Morton 111; Nissen ZBI, 1244
1
33

[23] FUCHS, L. Primi de Stirpium historia comentariorum tomi vivae
Imagines... Basileae, Isingrin, 1549. 8vo (165 x 105mm). pp. (16), 516, with
woodcut printer’s device on titlepage and 516 full page woodcuts, leaves
ruled in red, with contemporary annotations in the outer margin. Contemporary
calf, sides with blind ruled borderlines and fleurons at corners
and central gilt ornaments, later rebacking. € 6500
The second Isingrin 8vo.-edition. The smaller woodcuts are copies after the original folioedition
“De Historia Stirpium” of 1542 also published by Isingrin. More than 500 plants
are depicted, some of which are the first figures of certain American plants. In this edition
no accompanying text was published, the plants are depicted full-page with German and
Latin names only. The reduced woodcuts are much bigger and refined than the reduced
woodcuts of the Lyon editions printed by Arnoullet. The woodcuts of the present 8vo
edition by Isingrin have the same elegance and refinement as the large woodcuts of the
editio princeps. The small format made the book suitable to carry in the fields for plant
identification. Ownership inscription erased from title, later endpapers. The copy is preserved
in a modern slipcase.
Provenance: Signature on title of Joannes Dueil.
Nissen BBI, 661, Hunt 63.
34
23 Fuchs
1

24 Gaimard
[24] GAIMARD, J.P. Voyages de la commission scientifique du nord en
Scandinavie, en Laponie au Spitzberg et aux Feröe pendant les années
1838, 1839 et 1840 sur la corvette La Recherche commandée par M. Fabvre,
... (ZOOLOGIE). Paris, A. Bertrand, (1842-1855). Folio. 76 handcoloured
engraved plates. Later calf, identical richly blind- and gilt stamped covers,
blind- and gilt stamped spine with 4 raised bands, inner dentelles, all edges
gilt. € 3500
cf. Nissen ZBI, 1469. The complete zoological part of this immense work, which was
planned to consist of 20 volumes of text and 7 volumes of plates. But only 15 text-volumes
and 448 (instead of 560) plates have been published. No text was issued to the beautifully
handcoloured plates of the above zoological part, which is divided as follows: Birds 6 unnumbered
plates; Fishes 20 plates (numbered 1, 4-9, 11-22 & 16bis); Crustacea 40 plates
(numbered 1-11, 13-20, 22-31, 35-43 & 5a, 11b); Vermes, Coelenterata, Protozoa, 10 plates
(numbered C-M). A beautifully bound copy.
1
[25] (GESSNER, C.) - EVONYME PHILIATRE (Pseud.) Tresor des
remedes secretz par Evonyme Philiatre. Livre Physic, Medical, Alchymic,
& Dispensatif de toutes substantiales liqueurs, & appareil de vins de
diverses saveurs, necessaire à toutes gens, principalement à Medicins,
Chirurgiens, & Apothicaires. Lyon, Antoine Vincent, 1558. 8vo (172 x
120mm). pp. (48), 440, (6), woodcut printer’s mark on title and many
35

woodcuts of plants and distilling apparatus. Contemporary calf, gilt center
piece on covers (repair to head and foot of spine). € 2300
Rare second French edition. The first French edition was published in 1555, also in Lyon.
“This collection of recipes for medicines, the distillation of essential oils, and winemaking
was first published under the pseudonym Eunymus Philiatrus. ( ‘A well-known friend
of the art of medicine’) because Gessner considered it not quite up to his own exacting
standards. It became, however, his most popular work and was translated into German,
French, English and Italian” (Wellisch).
‘The book is an interesting account of Gesner’s knowledge of the chemistry of that day,
dealing with distillation and apparatus, the plants to be distilled, and the cures to be effected’
(Hunt 76). Ownership inscription on title dated 1653 and some old notes written
in the margin. A fine large copy.
Wellisch A 32.15.
36
1
26 Herbst
[26] HERBST, J.F.W. [Versuch einer Naturgeschichte der Krabben und
Krebse nebst einer systematischen Beschreibung ihrer verschiedenen
Arten]. Zürich, Berlin, J.C. Fuesssly/ Lange, 1782-1796. Oblong folio (295
x 465mm). Atlas only, containing 62 beautifully handcoloured plates. Old
boards with recent spine. € 12.000

The complete atlas of the most spectacular work ever made on crustacea. Plate 31 is an
original contemporary watercolour, the others are handcoloured engraved plates. The
complete work has 3 text volumes which are not present here. Johann Friederich Wilhelm
Herbst (1743-1807) was a German naturalist, theologian and a chaplain for the Prussian
army. The work describes numerous new species and the figures are after specimens in
Herbst’s collection, which at the present is the property of the Berlin Zoological Museum.
According to Wilhelm Junk copies in original contemporary colouring are much scarcer
than plain copies or copies with later colouring. “Doch sind nur noch Exemplare mit
schwarzen Tafeln, die einen sehr geringen Wert besitzen, sowie solche mit dem ebenfalls
erheblich schlechteren Neu-Colorit vorhanden, während prächtige Original-Exemplare
wie das obige immer seltener und theurer werden” (Junk, Rara I, p.10).
Nissen ZBI, 1896.
27 Herrich Schäffer
1
[27] HERRICH SCHÄFFER, G.A.W. Systematische Bearbeitung der
Schmetterlinge von Europa, zugleich als Text, Revision und Supplement
zu J. Hübner's Sammlung europäischer Schmetterlinge. Regensburg, in
Commission bei G.J. Manz, 1843-1856. 6 volumes. 4to (263 x 210mm).
With 672 engraved plates of which 636 beautifully handcoloured. Con-
37

temporary red half morocco, gilt lettered and ornamented spines with 5
raised bands. € 28.000
A beautiful uniformly bound copy. Together with Huebner’s ‘Sammlung europäischer
Schmetterlinge’ the rarest iconography on European Lepidoptera.
“One of the really great names in lepidoptera was the German G.A.W. Herrich-Schaeffer
(1799-1874). His profession as a medical doctor did not prevent him from fulfilling
an entomological life work of almost unbelievable dimensions. ... Together with the insect
painter C. Geyer, he also continued Hübner’s great work, ‘Sammlung Europäischer
Schmetterlinge’. As a supplement of this, his own most important contribution, ‘Systematische
Bearbeitung der Schmetterlinge von Europa’, in six volumes (1843-1856), appeared,
also in cooperation with C. Geyer as illustrator. This meant not only great progress in the
description of species and genera, but also the presentation of a new system for the Lepidoptera,
including the Micros, mainly based on the wing nervature, at which an attempt
had earlier been made by M. Harris” ( R.F. Smith a.o. History of Entomology p. 134).
“Diese Iconographie will die Arten enthalten, welche in der Hübner’schen Sammlung
fehlen, ferner bemerkenswerte Varietäten und jene Species, die H. verfehlt abgebildet
hat. 3954 Arten werden abgebildet. Der Text gibt auch ‘die bis dahin immer noch vermisste
Erläuterung der Hübner’schen Tafeln’” (Junk Rara II, 141). The plain plates are
anatomical plates. An absolutely complete copy with some occasional light foxing, mostly
confined to the text.
Provenance: Bookplates of Francis Hemming and Count Hervé de Toulgoët.
Nissen ZBI, 1916.
38
28 Hewitson
1
[28] HEWITSON, W. British oology;
being illustrations of the eggs of British
birds, with figures of each species, as far
as practicable, drawn and coloured from
nature; accompanied by descriptions of
the materials and situation of their nests,
number of eggs, &c. Newcastle upon
Tyne, C. Empson/ Currie and Bowman,
(1831-1842). 2 volumes (including the supplement).
Royal-8vo (244 x 155 mm). With
171 handcoloured lithographed plates. Contemporary
half calf, blind-stamped covers,
gilt spines with 5 raised bands and gilt lettering,
topedges gilt. € 2000

First edition, with the rare supplement and 2 extra plates (2 cancelled plates 87 & 119)
not called for in any of the bibliographies. The first major English oological work. The
first one was Donovan’s small work on eggs published in 1826, with 17 plates only. The
exquisitely hand-coloured plates are drawn and lithographed by the author. No separate
title was published for the supplement. ‘This first edition - very rare - of a standard work
was issued in 37 parts, April 1, 1883, with a supplement on October 1, 1842’ (Wood p. 385).
Hewitson was a talented artist and later in his life he published ‘Illustrations of Exotic
Butterflies’, famous for its fine plates which were likewise by the author. A very fine copy
of this standard work on eggs of British birds.
Fine Bird Books 82; Nissen IVB, 442.
1
29 Hill
[29] HILL, J. The Vegetable System. Or, the Internal Structure and the
Life of Plants; their Parts, and Nourishment Explained; their Classes,
Orders, Genera, and Species, ascertained, and described; in a Method altogether
New: comprehending an Artificial Index and a Natural System.
With figures of all plants designed and engraved by the author. The whole
from nature only. London, the author, 1761-1775. 26 volumes bound in 13.
Folio (445 x 290mm), with 1546 engraved plates on 1544 leaves. Contemporary
calf, richly gilt decorated new spines in 7 compartments with red
and green gilt lettered label, frontcover with gilt ornament. € 45.000
First editions (excepting volumes 1, 4 and 5 which are in the second edition) of the greatest
and largest botanical publication of the eighteenth century. The work is in complete
39

40
29 Hill

state exceptionally rare and the present copy is one of the most complete ones to come
on the market. In our catalogue 285 (2006) item 96 we offered a complete copy with 1548
engraved plates. Most sets contain a mixture of first and later issues. Our copy lacks plate
13 of volume 1; plate 50 of volume 21 (in its place is bound plate 36 which is double), and a
text leaf in volume 2. A few copies of the work were also issued with the plates coloured.
A total of some 26,000 plants are illustrated and described. ‘The Vegetable system is of
great importance because it gave for the first time in the vernacular a comprehensive treatment
of the plant kingdom, on a lavish scale... adopting the Linnaean generic names and
introducing binary nomenclature’ (Stafleu). Numerous species are described for the first
time, most being recently introduced exotics.
The Vegetable system is dedicated to the Prince of Wales, later George III. Its publication
was instigated by, and partially financed by, John Stuart, Earl of Bute, a notable patron of
botany and the initiator of Kew Gardens as a botanic garden. He may well have contributed
to the text. John Hill was involved in lengthy financial disputes with Bute, and the
publication of the Vegetable system ended in Hill’s bankruptcy and death. For a detailed
history see Henrey II pp. 103-8. A very fine set.
Provenance: Armorial bookplates of Sir Edward W. Watkin and Baron Dickinson Webster.
Great flower books p. 59; Henrey 832; Nissen BBI, 886; Stafleu & Cowan 2772
1
[30] KEFERSTEIN, C. Teuschland, geognostisch-geologisch dargestellt
und mit Charten und Durchschnittzeichnungen, welche einen geognostischen
Atlas bilden. Eine Zeitschrift. Weimar, im Verlage des Landes-
Industrie-Comptoirs. 1821-1832. Band 1-7 (all published), in 20 parts.
8vo (220 x 135 mm). With 16 large handcoloured geological maps and 3
(probably of 4) lithographed plates. Publisher’s printed wrappers. € 5500
A very scarce set from the famous ‘Fürstliche Hofbibliothek Donaueschingen’. It includes
the first general survey of a geological map of Germany ‘die erste geologische Übersichtskarte
von ganz Deutschland’ (Lexikon zur Geschichte der Kartographie 262). It also
contains large finely handcoloured engraved regional maps (ca. 550 x 550 mm) from
Baden-Würtemberg (2), Bayern (2), Hannover (2), Sachsen, Schlesien, Schweiz, Thüringen,
Tirol, Voralberg and Westfalen. Volume III, 3 probably lacks a plate and Volume IV,
2 has one more than called for. From Volume IV on it also contains ‘Zeitung für Geognasie,
Geologie und Naturgeschichte des Innern der Erde’ (Kirchner 3495).
A very fine uncut set.
Cotta, Geologisches Repertorium p.56; see also Cotta, Geognostische Karten; Reichardt
I, 69f.
1
41

[31] LABRAM, J. D. Insekten der Schweiz, die vorzüglichsten Gattungen
je durch eine Art bildlich dargestellt von J. D. Labram. Nach Anleitung
und mit Text von Dr. Ludwig Imhoff. Basel, bei den Verfassern und in
Commission bei C. F. Spittler, 1836-42. 6 volumes. 8vo (176 x 110mm).
With 459 handcoloured lithographed plates. Recent marbled boards.
€ 12.000
The work was published in 20 parts and is one of the greatest entomological rarities. The
present copy is probably the most complete one in existence. Nissen calls for 456 plates
and Horn & Schenkling for 454. Our copy collates as follows. The first 5 volumes have the
title and an index leaf for the plates, of the last 6th volume, the title and index leaf of the
plates were never published as this volume was never finished. All plates have an explanatory
leaf, apart from two (see below). The collation of the work is as follows. Volume I: 80
plates as listed on the index leaf as well as 3 extra plates of which one with an explanatory
leaf; II: 80 plates as listed on the index leaf; III: 80 plates as listed on the index leaf; IV:
77 plates as listed on the index leaf, as well as 2 extra plates and ‘Mantis religiosa’ listed
on the index leaf as one, has in fact two plates ‘Mantis religiosa fem.’ and another ‘Mantis
religiosa mas’; V: 80 plates as listed on the index leaf; VI: 56 plates. Horn & Schwenkling
in error mention 57 plates for the last volume. Hermann Geiger in his extensive essay on
42
31 Labram

‘J.D. Labrams Insektenwerk’ published in 1945, comparing many copies clearly states that
56 plates were published. This is in agreement with Nissen. The plates are lithographed
and finely handcoloured, very much in the style of Jacob Sturm, with the same attention
to minute details. Jonas David Labram (1785-1852) was a Swiss botanical artist at Basel.
Labram is better known for the illustrations he made for Hegetschweiler’s ‘Sammlung
von Schweizer Pflanzen’ & ‘Sammlung von Zierpfanzen’. Copies however of his insects
of Switzerland, which remained unfinished, are so rare that we have sold only one other
copy during the last decades.
Nissen ZBI, 2336; Horn & Schenkling 12581.
1
[32] LATHAM, S. Lathams Falconry: or, the Faulcons Lure, and Cure:
in two books. The first, concerning the ordering and training up of all
Hawkes in generall; especially the Haggard Faulcon Gentle. The second,
teaching approved medicines for the cure of all Diseases in them. Gathered
by long practice and experience, and published for the delight of
noble mindes, and instruction of young Faulconers in things pertaining
to this Princely Art. London, Thomas Harper, for John Harison, 1633. 2
volumes (bound in one). 4to (190 x 138mm). pp. (24), 147, (1, blank); pp.
32 Latham
43

(22), 148, (4), with woodcut illustration on title, and 31 woodcuts (some repeated)
in the text. Later calf, sides with gilt border, richly gilt ornamented
spine with 2 red gilt lettered labels, gilt edges. € 8800
First collected edition of the two volumes. “Latham’s ‘Falconry’ ranks among the principal
books on hawking in the English language... J.E. Harting, the great authority on hawking
literature, states that a relative of Latham was assistant falconer and subsequently sergeant
of the hawks to the successors of Sir Thomas Monson, i.e. to Sir Patrick Hume, Master
Falconer to the King, and Sir Allen Apsley. This relative was 60 years of age when Latham
published his book in 1614-15, so that we may assume that a good deal of knowledge was
derived by him from this source. Latham in the second book, refers to Henry Sadler of
Everley, Grand Falconer to Queen Elisabeth, as ‘his first and loving master’” (Schwerdt
I, 302). The first volume was first published in 1615, and the second volume in 1618. The
present edition is the first collected edition, using the same woodblocks and according to
Harting ‘quite as good as the first, of which it is a reprint without alteration’. An attractively
bound and well preserved copy of this rare item. Old signature on title.
Harting, Bibliotheca Accipitraria 20; Schwerdt I, 302.
1
[33] LINDLEY, J. Rosarum Monographia; or, a botanical history of roses.
To which is added, an appendix, for the use of cultivators, in which the
most remarkable garden varieties are systematically arranged. A new
edition. London, James Ridgway, 1830. Royal- 8vo (250 x 160mm). pp.
xxxix, 156, with 19 engraved plates of which 18 beautifully handcoloured.
Contemporary boards with cloth spine, preserved in a beautiful red half
morocco slipcase with gilt decorated rose ornaments. € 1800
Second edition. Apart from the title identical to the first edition of 1820. “While Redouté
in his famous work treats specially the double Roses of the garden Lindley has left them
entirely out of consideration adding only in an appendix the most remarkable garden varieties
systematically arranged. Nevertheless 78 pure natural species are described” (Junk,
Rara I, 18). Apart from one all plates are after drawings by the author. The work is a remarkable
achievement for a botanist aged only 22.
Nissen BBI, 1204.
44
1
[34] LINNAEUS, C. Philosophia Botanica in qua explicantur fundamenta
botanica cum definitionibus partium, exemplis terminorum, observationibus
rariorum, adjectis figuris aeneis. Stockholmiae, G. Kiesewetter,

1751. 8vo (198 x 123mm). pp. (6), 362, with portrait frontispiece of Linnaeus
and 2 fullpage woodcuts in the text and 9 engraved plates. Contemporary
calf, richly gilt ornamented spine in 6 compartments with red gilt lettered
label (ends of spine chipped). € 1800
Scarce first edition with the mostly lacking portrait of Linnaeus (J.M. Bernigeroth sc.
Lips. 1749).
‘The ‘Philosophia botanica’ consists of the 365 aphorisms of the ‘Fundamenta’ (only a few
of them in a changed form or actually different) with the addition of extensive explanations,
commentaries, references or other documentation printed in smaller type.... The
‘Philosophia botanica’ is the key to Linnaeus and the epitome of the predominance of
aristotelian-thomistic methodological thinking in taxonomic botany” (Stafleu, Linnaeus
and the Linnaeans. p. 32).
Soulsby 437.
34 Linnaeus
1
45

[35] MAUND, B. The Botanic Garden; consisting of highly finished representations
of hardy ornamental flowering plants, cultivated in Great
Britain with their names, classes, orders, history, qualities, culture, and
physiological observations. Vol. I-VIII (all published !). London, Simpkin
& Marshall, 1826-1836. 8 volumes. Royal-8vo (225 x 175mm). With
768 handcoloured engraved plates. Later green half morocco, spines with
gilt flower ornaments in 6 compartments. € 15.000
46
35 Maund

The ‘SPECIAL CROWN ISSUE’ of this well-known and beloved flower-book. Only a
few copies have been produced of this ‘de luxe’ edition. It is of utmost rarity and is not
mentioned in any of the standard bibliographies. The illustrations are the same as in the
corresponding volumes of the ordinary edition, but instead of being grouped in fours,
only one is illustrated to a plate. Each one is handcoloured with much greater care than
in the ordinary issue. All plates are surrounded by uniform and finely engraved borders,
which are surmounted by a crown. The first volume has an inserted leaf with the following
text: “To her most gracious Majesty the Queen. In grateful acknowledgement of her
Condescension and Patronage, this volume is most respectfully dedicated. By her Majesty’s
most obliged and devoted servant Benjamin Maund”. A fine copy.
1
[36] MILLER, P. The Gardener's and Botanist's Dictionary; containing
the best and newest methods of cultivating and improving the Kitchen,
Fruit, and Flower Garden, and Nursery; of performing the practical parts
of agriculture; of managing vineyards.... to which are now first added, a
complete enumeration and description of all plants hitherto known....
the whole corrected and newly arranged... by Thomas Martyn. London,
printed for F.C. and J. Rivington...., 1807. 2 volumes bound in 4. Folio
(424 x 265mm). With 15 engraved botanical plates and 5 engraved plates of
a conservatory, green house, ice house, pine stove, vinery. Contemporary
calf, sides with gilt and blind tooled borders, spines in 7 compartments
with gilt and blind tooled ornaments, gilt lettering, inside dentelles.
€ 4900
A splendidly bound copy of the most important botanical dictionary published in England.
The work was first published in 1731 and went through innumerable editions and
virtually all editions are of taxonomic significance, both for documenting plant introduction
in Great Britain, and in determinating species. The present edition, however, is the
most important one.
“On 18 May 1788 Thomas Martyn was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. In the previous
year he started work on a new edition of Philip Miller’s ‘Gardeners dictionary’. Some
interesting details concerning this great task are recorded by Gorham; the renumeration
agreed upon between Martyn and the publishers, Messrs. White and Rivington, was
1,000 guineas: a sum Martyn did not consider very advantageous, as he expected to be
occupied eleven years on the undertaking.
The work was begun on 11 November 1785; the first sheet was received from the press on
29 December 1792... and the whole was published on 21 December 1807, in four very
large folio volumes (titled as two volumes, in two parts), price fourteen guineas... Martyn
informed Richard Pulteney: The Dictionary advances; but I shall find it a long and heavy
business. Besides the addition of all new species, the generic and specific characters must
47

all be translated anew; and I am determined that the book shall contain in English the
marrow of Linnaeus’s great works - the ‘Genera’ and the ‘Species Plantarum’ and the ‘Systema
Vegetabilium’ (Henry, ‘British Botanical and Horticultural Literature before 1800’
II, pp. 56-57). It finally took Martyn 22 years intead of 11 to finish the work.
Henry 1114; Stafleu & Cowan 6046.
48
36 Miller
1

[37] MIVART, S.G. A monograph of the Lories, or brush-tongued parrots,
composing the family Loriidae. London, R.H. Porter, 1896. Large-
4to (315 x 250mm). pp. liii, 193, with 4 coloured maps, 61 fine handcoloured
lithographed plates and 19 figures in the text. Publisher’s brown cloth, gilt
spine. € 7400
“A thorough treatise on the group in question, with excellent handcoloured plates” (Zimmer
439). The introduction (pp. xix-xxxix) contains careful observations on the anatomy
of the Loriidae, about which D.N.B. writes: “In mastery of anatomical detail he had few
37 Mivart
49

ivals, and perhaps no superior, among his contemporaries”. The lively and attractive
plates are all after J.G. Keulemans, probably the most famous bird illustrator at the end
of the 19th century. The early issue, not the later Quaritch issue.
“The family is remarkable for its brilliancy and gay coloration; but it is not only the appearance
of these birds which make them attractive. Some of them, as those of the genus
‘Chalcopsittacus’, will spontaneously approach human dwellings” (From the Introduction).
They range from what is genarally known as ‘the Australian region’ and over a
very large part of Polynesia. An excellent copy of of one of the most atractive works on
parrots.
Fine Bird Books 94; Nissen IVB, 640.
50
1
[38] OBERTHÜR, C. Études de Lépidoptérologie comparée. Rennes,
Imprimerie Oberthür, 1904-1925. 23 parts (including fasc. IV bis & XI
bis and the register), bound in 20 volumes. Royal-8vo (245 x 165mm). pp.
cxxvi, 8781, with 52 portraits (of entomologists), 955 (mainly photographic)
plates and 603 hand coloured plates (numbered 1-600). Contemporary
uniform red half morocco, spines with gilt lettering and 5 raised bands.
€ 15.000
An absolutely complete set of this highly important and exhaustive work on Lepidoptera.
Charles Oberthür (1845-1924) was the son of the founder of a famous printing firm.
The whole work was printed on Charles Oberthür’s own presses. “The result - twentytwo
volumes with many hundred black- and white plates and text figures and nearly six
hundred coloured plates, the excellence of which has never been surpassed, seldom even
approached, in any other entomological publication (S.P. Abadjiev).
The beautifully lithographed plates are by Dallongeville, Culot and Trottet, and are exquisitely
handcoloured. J. Culot drew more than 5000 figures for the above work. “Il est très
axé sur les variations de couleurs des ailes, soit vers le mélanisme soit vers l’albinisme. Il
est un des premiers à soutenir que: ‘Sans bonne figure à l’appuie d’une description, pas de
nom valable. La priorité du nom appartient au premier iconographe plutôt qu’au premier
descripteur’” (Lhoste p. 109). Fasc. IVbis & XIbis were published in a different format,
4to (275 x 220mm). This is the best set we have ever had of this rare work.
Provenance: Bookplate of Count Hervé de Toulgoët.
Nissen ZBI, 2998.
1

38 Oberthür
51

[39] OBERTHÜR, C. Études d'Entomologie. Faunes entomologiques,
descriptions d'insectes nouveaux ou peu connus. Rennes, Imprimerie
Oberthür et Fils, 1876-1902. 21 parts bound in 12 volumes. Royal-8vo (265
x 185mm) & 4to (320 x 245mm). With 142 lithographed plates of which
128 beautifully handcoloured and 4 full page photographs. Contemporary
brown half morocco, gilt lettered spine (first 10 parts, bound in one volume),
the remaining parts in publisher’s original printed wrappers. € 7500
A fine set of this rare entomological work with exquisitely handcoloured plates, the present
set also contains the ‘Tables Générales systématiques et alphabétiques’, by C. Houlbert
published in 1920. Charles Oberthür (1845-1922) was the owner of the Oberthür family
printing office in Rennes, and his superbly produced entomological works were printed
by his own printing offfice. ‘Oberthür, ses études terminées, entre dans l’imprimerie familiale
à Rennes. Mais il continue à s’interesser à l’entomologie et aux papillons. Il est
très axé sur les variations de colours des ailes.... Pour rester en accord avec ses principes,
Oberthür fait appel à des artistes de talent: J. Culot dessine et peint 1300 figures pour
les ‘Études entomologiques” (Lhoste pp. 109-110). The work contains highly interesting
monographs such as: ‘Faune des Lépidoptères de l’Algérie’, ‘Espèces nouvelles de
Lépidoptères recueillis en Chine par M. l’abbé A. David’, ‘Lépidoptères du Thibet’, ‘Lépidoptères
de l’Amérique Méridionale’. Plate 4 of part 3 was never published, plates 2-5 of
52
39 Oberthür

part 18 and plates 5 and 6 of part 9 in both plain and coloured state (only the coloured
plates have been counted in the plate count). The first 10 parts were published in 8vo, the
remaining parts in 4to.
Provenance: Bookplate of Claude Herbulot.
Nissen ZBI 2997.
1
40 Olivier
[40] OLIVIER, G.A. Entomologie, ou histoire naturelle des Insectes,
avec leurs caractères génériques et spécifiques, leur description, leur
synonymie et leur figure enluminée. COLEOPTERES. Paris, Baudouin/
Desray, 1789-1808. 6 volumes. Large-4to (300 x 240mm). With 1 colourprinted
engraved frontispiece and 362 handcoloured engraved plates. Contemporary
half dark brown morocco, richly gilt decorated spines with gilt
lettering in 5 compartments. € 17.000
A very fine uniformly bound copy of the first and only edition of this beautiful and very
rare work. Its fine plates, depicting thousands of various species of Coleoptera, are by J.
Audebert, J.L. Reinold and Meunier, and engraved by Copia, Desfontaines, Manceau,
Sellier and F.L. Swebach. Guillaume Antoine Olivier (1756-1814) was one of the greatest of
53

the early French naturalists and an entomologist of high standing. He was a close friend
of J.C. Fabricius and a patron of P.A. Latreille. His large collection of beetles (now for the
larger part in the Museum at Paris), gathered on journeys through European & Asiatic
Turkey, Asia Minor, Persia, Egypt, and various Mediterranean Islands, is described in his
famous work, by which he became nationally known as a great entomologist. Together
the text comprises 3162 pages. A mint copy of this exhaustive French classic on Coleoptera.
Hagen I, 21; Horn & Schenkling 899; Nissen ZBI, 3012; W. Junk, Bibliographia Coleoptera
2545 ‘Très -rare’
1
[41] PALISOT DE BEAUVOIS, A.M.F.J. Insectes recueillis en Afrique et
en Amérique, dans les Royaumes d'Oware et de Benin, à Saint-Domingue
et dans les États-Unis, pendant les années 1786-1797. Paris, Levrault, An
XIII-1805 (-21). Large Folio (460 x 305mm). pp. (4), xvi, 276, with 90
fine colour-printed engraved plates with delicate hand finishing, the plates
engraved by J.G. Prêtre and printed by Langlois. In its original disbound
leaves preserved in a modern cloth box. € 22.000
First edition of this rare and magnificent work. The first entomological iconography on
African insects and a major contibution to early American entomology. Palisot de Beauvois
(1752-1820) was a French naturalist and traveller. The present work was published
54
40 Olivier

41 Palisot
in 15 parts over a period of 16 years, the last part being posthumously published by J.G.
Audinet Serville. The superbly executed plates are by J.G. Prêtre, one of the finest artists
of the period, and colour printed by Langlois, the great master of colour printing who
supervised most of Redouté’s best works. Palisot de Beauvois suffered 3 great losses of collections
made between the years 1786-1798: most of the Owara and Benin collections (in
55

storage in Owara) were plundered by the British in 1792; his Haitian collections burned
along with his house and other belonging in 1793; and most of his U.S. collections were
lost at sea in 1798.
“Palisot published a major entomological work entitled, ‘Insectes Recueillis en Afrique
et en Amerique’. Palisot’s work is significant because, while some workers had described
American beetles before him, he was one of the first to both actively collect and describe
American insects along with his contemporary, Fredrick Melsheimer (the elder). In addition
to the hundreds of common insects that he described, the work is also notable for his
proposed ordinal classification of Insects. A large number of Scarabaeidae are included in
this work, many described and/or illustrated for the first time. The total includes 39 species
in the genus Scarabaeus, 17 species of Copris, seven species of Trox, four Cetonia and
four Trichius. Among these were the first descriptions of such familiar beetles as Canthon
viridis (P.B.), Macrodactylus angustatus (P.B.) and Osmoderma scabra (P.B.). A problem,
... is that many of the species that Palisot attributed to ‘Amérique’ were actually collected
in ‘Afrique’, and vice versa. Moreover, he included species, such as Dynastes hercules (L.),
which do not occur within the U.S. or Santo Domingo, creating type localities for species
that in some cases are outside of their natural range... Because of the French revolution
and his former status in the nobility as the Baron de Beauvois, Palisot was unable to
return to France without risking the guillotine. Instead he boarded a ship bound for the
United States but, en route, was relieved of his remaining belongings by pirates and thus
he arrived in Philadelphia penniless and bereft. He was able to make a living by joining a
circus as a musician, but he eventually returned to work as a botanist, hired to curate the
private collection of C.W. Peale. In Philadelphia he became a member of the American
Philosophical Society, published in its Transactions, and resumed his natural history collecting
with the financial support of the French Attache, Paul Adet, a scientist in his own
right. Palisot’s collecting forays in the United States ranged as far west as the Ohio River
and as far south as Savannah, Georgia. When finally notified by colleagues in Paris that
his citizenship had been restored, Palisot began making plans for his return to Europe,
including arrangements for the shipment of his specimens. Unfortunately, these collections
were lost when the ship carrying them sank off the coast of Nova Scotia in 1798. He
left the United States that same year and returned to his native France.
Based on the material that had survived prior shipments, but mainly on his sketches, Palisot
published works on plants and insects, the latter in a series of 15 booklets (livraisons)
issued between 1805 and 1821, the last issued one year after his death. Griffin (1932, 1937)
provides the dates of issue for each individual livraison. Each livraison included five to six
plates, each with illustrations of six or nine of the insects described in the text, and it is
on these sketches rather than actual specimens that Palisot’s species are often recognized”.
(Biographical sketch contributed by Don Thomas, USDA, Weslaco, Texas).
The copy is uncut and preserved in its original disbound leaves and was never bound.
Some margins a bit dusty and a few plates slightly browned. 15 plates show butterflies.
Nissen ZBI, 3036; Ekema, Teyler, 267 ‘magnifique ouvrage’; Junk, Bibliographia Coleopterologica
(Berlin 1912), 2580 ‘Tres-rare’.
1
56

42 Pallas
[42] PALLAS, P.S. Icones ad Zoographiam Rosso-Asiaticam. [Petropoli
1831-42]. 4to (335 x 260mm). With 48 engraved plates of which 46 finely
handcoloured. Contemporary red half morocco, gilt lettered spine with 5
raised bands. € 4500
The separately published atlas to ‘Zoographia Rosso-Asiatica’. The atlas was published
in 6 parts. The indices of these parts are bound in as well as the front wrapper of part 3
which serves here as title. The work is the first zoological survey of the Russian Empire.
“In 1767 Pallas was invited to work at the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. He was
elected ordinary academician and had the rank of acting state councillor. During more
57

than forty years Pallas was associated exclusively with the development of Russian science...
The writing of a zoological geography of the Russian empire, which was the main
goal of Pallas’ life, took much work and money; and its preparation for publication went
slowly. Because of his declining health, and his wish to hasten the appearance of his work
in print, Pallas moved in 1810 to Berlin, where he died a year later. The St. Petersburg
Academy of Sciences, without waiting to prepare the drawings for publication, began in
1811 to publish Pallas’ ‘Zoographia Rosso-Asiatica’... (DSB pp. 283-4). The 3 text volumes
were published from 1811 to 1814, and reissued again in 1831 to 1842 when the atlas was
finally published.
26 of the 48 plates show birds, 16 mammals, 5 fishes and 1 frogs. The fine plates are by
C.G. Geissler and F. Lehmann.
Nissen ZBI, 3077.
58
1
43 Quer
[43] QUER Y MARTINEZ, J. Flora Española, ó historia de las Plantas,
que se crian en España... Madrid, Joachin Ibarra, 1762-1784. 6 volumes.
4to (260 x 200 mm). pp. (44), 402; (16), 303; (12), 436; (4), 471, (1); (4),
xxxii, 538; (4), 667, with numerous engraved vignettes, 1 engraved frontispiece,
1 engraved coat of arms, 1 engraved folding map, 1 engraved portrait
of Quer and 213 engraved plates. Contemporary mottled calf, richly gilt
spines with 5 raised bands, red and green gilt lettered labels (spines recently
rebacked) € 12.000

A rare complete copy of the first major Spanish flora written by a Spanish author. The
last 2 volumes are by C. G. de Ortega and according to W. Junk in his ‘50 Jahre Antiquar’
rare and mostly lacking. José Quer y Martinez (1695-1764) was a Spanish physician and
became director of the Madrid botanical garden in 1755, a post which he remained in
until his death. Together with Antonio Cavanilles, his junior, he was the most important
Spanish botanist of the 18th century. “The engraved half-title is signed Ysidro Carnizero
inven. et delin. The engraved arms and 80 plates are by Lorenzo Morin menor. The engraved
portrait is by Fernando Selmo(?) after an original by Antonio Carnicero (?). Two
plates are signed by Chozas and one each by Ricarte and Rodriguez” (Johnston 459).
All bibliographies, such as Nissen BBI, Pritzel, Johnston, the most important bibiography
on Spanish botany ‘La Botanica y los Botanicos peninsula Hispano-Lusitana’ by Miquel
Colmeiro (Madrid 1858) number 542, as well as a copy sold by Asher in cat. xvii in 1968
call for 213 plates. Stafleu & Cowan call for a 4 bis plate in the first volume, which might
be in error or a later added plate.
Library stamp at first leaves of each volume (together 18). Two vols with some marginal
staining, a few plates a bit browned. A good copy of a book which we have not offered
since decades.
Provenance: Bookplate of Angel Lulio Cabrera
1
44 Reeve
[44] REEVE, L.A. Conchologia Iconica, or, Illustrations of the shells of
molluscous animals. London, Reeve Bros., 1843-1864. 14 volumes. 4to.
With 1892 lithographed plates, all but 5 (as is always the case) beautifully
handcoloured plates. Contemporary half calf. € 30.000
A beautifully preserved set of one of the most splendid works on shells. All published
by Lovell Augustus Reeve. The ‘Conchologia Iconica’ comprises 20 volumes of which
the continuation volumes 15 to 20 were by G.B. Sowerby. After Reeve’s death, Reeve’s
widow requested Sowerby to publish the remaining volumes. “It was from his London
emporium in King William Street, Strand, in 1843, that Reeve issued the first part of his
most ambitious and best known work, the Conchologia Iconica, the publication of which
59

occupied him for the rest of his life... Sowerby was responsible for all the illustrations,
this time employing the medium of lithography ... in most of its illustrations shows the
shells life-size and this accounts for its greater number of volumes. The figures are widely
recognized as the most accurate and the most beautiful of all those published prior to
the widespread use of photographic reproductions. The Cuming collection was Reeve’s
principal source of illustrative material” (Dance pp. 121-122).
Nissen ZBI , 3331; B.M. (Nat. Hist). IV, p. 1663.
1
60
44 Reeve

[45] [RÉMOND]. Entomological archives, manuscripts and watercolours
of the 18th and early 19th century, from the Rémond family, of Semur
en Auxois (Burgundy). The authors are Louis Rémond, physician at Semur
during the 18th century, F.M. Rémond likewise physician and author of
'Avis aux pères et aux mères sur la vaccine', Dyon & Semur 1818, and his
son Maurice Rémond, lawyer at Semur. The greater part of the collection
concerns the latter two who both were keen entomologists. The main objects
in the collection are 125 watercolour drawings of caterpillars and their
cocoons and a full translation into French of Roesel von Rosenhof's 'Der
monatlich-herausgegebenen Insecten-Belustigungen'. € 45.000
The main interest of father and son Rémond is the metamorphosis of butterflies. The
beautifully drawn watercolour drawings of caterpillars are of a superb quality and the
animals are drawn with painstaking precision. The work is very much in the tradition
of Maria Sibylla Merian who at the beginning of the same century was fascinated by
the same subject and published in 1713-1717 a 3 volumes pioneering work ‘Der rupsen
begin…’ We presume that the watercolours and the extensive notes to these plates are by
Louis Rémond and the translation of Roesel von Rosenhof by his son Maurice. The whole
project was certainly intended to be published. In a draft (May 1808) of a letter of Maurice
Rémond to A.J.P. Kleemann (no. 14), the son of C.F. Kleemann and the son-in-law
of Roesel von Rosenhof, Rémond informs him of his intention to publish Roesel’s work
together with his own observations. “Mes compatriotes les français ne connaissent guère
de cet ouvrage que la beauté des figures et ignorent les détails intéressantes que renferme le
texte, votre langue étant peu répandu en France; c’est ce qui m’a fait former le projet d’en
donner une traduction que l’accompagnerai de mes propres observations”. He continues
asking him details of his father’s life which he wants to incorporate in his work. In a reply
dated 30 May 1808 Kleeman wishes him success with his project “Je souhaite la plus heureuse
réussite de votre projet louable’, and adds several pages of text concerning the life of
his father C.F. Kleemann. The work of De Geer (no. 3) and Reaumur (no. 4) were studied
in detail, notes and drawings were made as well as numerous notes of other authors.
The town of Semur was a small centre of scientific studies. Not far from Semur, in Montbard,
one of France’s most famous naturalists Buffon was born. His main collaborator,
Gueneau de Montbéliard lived in Semur. There must have been frequent contacts between
the father and son Rémond and these two famous scientists. Between the various
documents (no. 14) and papers there is an invitation of the family Guenau inviting Mr.
and Mrs. Rémond for a concert (28 Aôut 1797). Among the papers there is a note by
Maurice Rémond referring to frequent visits made to M. de Montbéliard. On the same
sheet he discusses the ‘Encyclopédie Méthodique’ published by Panckoucke and later
Agasse and tells the following about the daughter of Panckoucke: ‘Madame veuve Agasse,
née Pankouque, est sans doute la fille de M. Pankouque, venue à Semur dans son enfance
et qui a été inoculer par mon père’.
This interesting collection shows the keen interest in natural history, especially entomol-
61

45 Rémond
ogy in the French countryside during the second half of the 18th and beginning of the
19th century. This highly interesting period was characterized by rapid changes due to the
French revolution.
The collection comprises about 50 volumes and is composed as follows:
1) Collection de Chenilles et de quelques Papillons que j’ai peints d’après Nature. 125
62

45 Rémond
drawings (305 x 230mm) in watercolour showing caterpillars and cocoons, all within an
ink drawn frame. Most of the plates show a caterpillar and its cocoon, sometimes there
are more to a plate. Occasionally there is only one cocoon or caterpillar to a plate. Each
plate is preserved in a folded sheet, dated ‘l’an troisième de la République’ (1795) with
the plate number and the name of the insect in French in manuscript. The collection
has a manuscript title as quoted above, and 10 manuscript leaves of index. Preserved in a
contemporary blue cardboard box.
The collection is classified as follows: Chenilles épineuses, Papillons de jours; Chenilles
rases ou demi-velues, Chenilles-cloportes & Papillons de jours; Chenilles à corne sur le
dernier anneau. Sphinx; Chenilles rases; Chenilles à tubercules velus; Chenilles velues;
Arpenteuses à 10 jambes; Chenilles à 12 et à 14 jambes. Each section is in a paper wrapper
with the classification in manuscript.
ADDED: 4 contemporary cardboard boxes with explanatory text relating to the above
collection of watercolours with the following lettering:
P.D.J. [Papillions de Jours] & SPH. [Sphinges]
CH.R. [Chenilles rases]
CH.V. [Chenilles velues]
ARP. [Arpanteuses]
The 4 boxes contain the full descriptions of 123 of the 125 watercolours and have corresponding
numbering. Each description covers mostly several pages, and gives in neat
handwriting the name of the insect together with its finding place as well as the date. The
caterpillar and its life cycle are meticulously described. It describes the metamorphosis of
63

the caterpillar into a cocoon, and the cocoon into a butterfly. These observations cover
sometimes several months. Extensive reference is made to the works of de Geer, Reaumur,
Merian, Roesel, Swammerdam and others, in many instances supplemented by elaborate
pen drawings.
2) Traduction littérale de Roesel: Divertissement de l’histoire naturelle des insectes donné
par mois. A French unpublished translation of Roesel von Rosenhof’s’ ‘Der monatlichherausgegebenen
Insecten-Belustigung’. Nürnberg 1746-1793.
This French translation in 6 folio volumes (bound in 7) in neat handwriting is bound in
contemporary uniform boards and was made between 1807 and 1810. The set comprises
the supplement by C.F. Kleeman and the final supplement by C. Schwarz.
Roesel. Amusemens Périodiques sur les Insectes. 5 volumes (bound in 3). 4to. Contemporary
boards. An abridged version in French in manuscript of Roesel von Rosenhof’s’
‘Der monatlich-herausgegebenen Insecten-Belustigung’, probably predating the above
final translation. In some cases Rémond’s own observations are noted as well (e.g. volume
4 page 91). The first volume has some pages inserted of an earlier draft with a nicely calligraphic
title ‘Amusemens Périodiques… traduits par M. R(émond). Added are 3 preparatory
volumes in manuscript. 1: ‘Traduction abrégé des amusemens périodiques, tome
premier. Par M. R (émond); 2: Brouillon à garder: Histoire des Polypes d’eau douce…; 3:
‘Phalenes ou papillons d’arpenteuses: classes non faites par Ernst. Notes relatives au volume
qu’il faudrait faire en réunissant tout ce qu’en ont dit Roesel, Kleemann et Schwarz.
Songer à Gladbach’. A manuscript of about 250 pages, translations of above mentioned
authors together with his own observations.
3) De Geer, Charles. Mémoires pour servir à l’histoire des insectes. (1752-78). Manuscript
extracts and notes of De Geer’s work, supplemented by many very attractive drawings in
ink. About 240 pages.
4) Notes et observations sur les papillons tirés de Réaumur. Manuscript notes (186 pages),
with some drawings in ink on Reaumur’s ‘Mémoires pour servir à l’histoire des insectes’
(1734-42). Together with: Merian. Extrait du recueil des Insectes de Surinam. pp. 25 [and]
Papillons, division de Linnée. Citations de beaucoup d’autres auteurs… pp. 24. On page
4 Remond makes reference to his father ‘Voir le manuscrit de mon père pour les autres
ordres’.
5) [ABEILLES] Essai d’un manuel pratique sur l’éducation des abeilles. Pour être présenté
au concours ouvert par la Société d’Agriculture du Département de la Seine. A manuscript
of 64 pages on bees. Together with a manuscript extract of 54 pages of Rozier’s
‘Traité sur les abeilles’.
6) Manuscript notes and extracts on various natural history topics, mostly entomological.
Dates are between 1793 and 1833. Preserved in a contemporary cardboard box.
7) Classification. Méthodes de divers auteurs. Manuscript notes on the classification of
64

45 Rémond
65

insects by authors such as Fabricius, Dumeril, Geoffroy, and Schaeffer.
8) Livres à acheter, achats, & notes bibliographiques. A collection of manuscript notes on
books, books to be bought and purchased books, as well as bibliographical notes. Such as
‘Note des principaux ouvrages sur les insectes qui se trouvent à la bibliothèque de Dyon’;
‘Livres à acheter’, ‘livres achetés à la vente de M. Bertin’. The dates range from 1799 to
1834.
66
45 Rémond

9) Bibliographie Entomologique: Auteurs. A large collection of bibliographical notes on
entomological publications. There is a date of 1805 on the cover.
10) Sturm, Jacob. Translation of ‘Deutschlands Fauna: Die Amphibien & Die Würmer’.
Traduction littérale des Amphibies de Jacob Sturm, 2 vols. & Traduction littérale… les
Vers. 1 volume. [with:] Sturm, Jacob. Deutschlands Flora. A first draft of a partial translation
of Sturm’s large publication of the Flora of Germany. With ‘Cent enveloppes gravées
pour les planches de la flore Allemande qui paraîtront par la suite’, containing the engraved
title pages ‘Flore d’Allemagne dessinée d’après nature et gravée par Jaques Sturm’
for a planned publication. Preserved in a contemporary cardboard box. [and] One portfolio
with some notes.
11) Collection académique composée des mémoires, actes et journaux des plus célèbres
académies et sociétés littéraires de l’Europe; concernant l’histoire naturelle, la botanique,
la chymie, la physique expérimentale, la médecine, l’anatomie, &c. Tome quatorzième et
dernier de la partie étrangère, contenant à la fin l’extrait des éphémérides de l’Académie
des Curieux de la nature depuis 1688 jusqu’en 1702. Traduit (crossed out) par feu M. Rémond,
docteur en médicine et membre correspondant de l’Académie des sciences, arts et
belles lettres de Dyon. Folio. 1048 pages in manuscript. [and] Table générale alphabétique
des matières continues dans les quatorze volumes de la collection académique, partie
étrangères. (Tables A to P). 4to. About 250 pages in manuscript.
12) Scholarly manuscripts mostly of an earlier period: Cursus Philosophicus… Dominus
Johannes Nicolaius Guillaume socius Sorbonicus et philosophicus professor, in collegio
Sorbonnae Plesseo an. 1721 et 1722. pp. 800. [and] Physiologie de Pyrs. Paris 1751. pp. 453.
Manuscript signed by Ludovicus Remond. [and] Medical notes. 11 fascicles of medical
notes in neat handwriting, numbered 1 to 11. Each part has about 150 to 200 pages. The
last part has a date 1769. Contemporary marbled boards [and] One small portfolio with
early notes, some medical, others botanical.
13) Herbal of dried plants of Semur and its surroundings. 9 large and thick volumes in
folio. Contemporary boards. The dried plants have handwritten labels with their French
and Latin names. On several specimens the location is mentioned such as ‘dans mon
jardin’, ‘à Dyon’, trouvée à Molime en août’, and sometimes a date (such as 1796). The
contents of the album is rather fragile, and a number of plants have become loose and
some are missing.
14) Mostly personal documents concerning Maurice Rémond, including letters addressed
to him concerning books he wants to be bought for him in Paris. One letter dated as late
as 11 April 1836 addressed to ‘Monsieur Remond ancient juge à Semur’; Notes ‘Ordre de
travail’, a manuscript list of the 100 most important citizens of Semur ‘Liste des 100 citoyens
les plus imposés résidans dans la ville de Semur’, dated 24 May 1809 with the stamp of
the city of Semur; a manuscript list of the street names of Semur ‘Noms des rues de la ville
de Semur en Côte d’Or’; a list of servants (1763-1792); a manuscript revolutionary song
‘Faisons l’amour faisons la guerre’, with signatures of Remond; Correspondence Maurice
67

Rémond to A.J.P. Kleemann, the son of C.F. Kleeman and the son-in-law of Roesel von
Rosenhof (see above); ‘à mettre dans l’avertissement’, in which Maurice Rémond writes
among other things that in order to understand the text of Roesel’s work he decided to
learn German, and that he was assisted by a German who knew well the French language.
- see illustration back cover.
1
[46] RUIZ (LOPEZ), H. & PAVON, J. Flora Peruviana, et Chilensis,
sive descriptiones, et icones Plantarum Peruvianarum, et Chilensium,
secundum systema Linnaeanum digestae, cum characteribus plurium
generum evulgatorum reformatis. (Madrid), G. de Sancha, 1798-1802. 3
volumes. Folio (423 x 290mm). pp. (2), vi, 78; (2), ii, 76; (2) xxiv, 95, (i),
with 326 engraved plates. Contemporary half calf, spines rebacked, marbled
sides. € 29.000
Probably the rarest botanical publication on South American plants, the work is sometimes
found with the Prodromus published in 1794.. “From the botanical viewpoint, the
Spanish possessions in America were to a large extent terra incognita until the second
half of the 18th century; their exploration began only when King Charles III of Spain dispatched
an ‘Expedición Botánica’ under the leadership of Hipólito Ruiz to the viceroyalty
of Peru. This expedition spent a total of ten years in the region of present-day Peru and
Chile. Among its most important participants were José Antonio Pavón y Jiménez, Joseph
Dombey and the two plant illustrators Joseph Brunete and Isidro Gálvez. According to
the instructions laid down by Carlos III, ‘herbaria and collections’ were to be assembled,
along with ‘descriptions and illustrations of plants found in my fertile lands, in order to
enrich my museum of natural history and the botanic garden of my court’. However,
the work on the expedition’s extremely extensive finds after having been brought back to
Madrid remained uncompleted: admittedly a ‘Flora Peruvianae et Chilensis Prodromus
appeared (Madrid, 1794), .... but the planned ten-volumes, lavishly illustrated ‘Flora Peruvianae
et Chilenis’ came to a halt in the year 1802, with the publication of the third
volume” (H. W. Lack, ‘Garden Eden, masterpieces of Botanical illustration’, 45).
Plate 198 is numbered twice and is idential apart from some details, the plates are numbered
1-325, and twice plate 198. The work is so rare that Dr. W. Junk in his ‘50 Jahre
Antiquar’, mentions the work in his chapter ‘introuvables’. The engraved plates are of
great beauty. A good 100 out of 141 new genera announced by the Spanish pair are still
recognized today. Over 500 species still bear the names given by Ruiz and Pavón. “But
though three-fourth of the tomes did not reach print, the Ruiz-Pavón expedition was the
only of the great Spanish scientific ventures of the epoch to have any findings published
during the life-time of the participants. The three volumes of the ‘Flora’ actually issued,
together with Cavanilles’ tomes, were certainly the best Spanish botanical productions up
to that date... Ruiz justly took pride in ‘the naturalness and exactitude in the presentation
of the plants and their parts...’ (Steele p. 328).
68

46 Ruiz
Stafleu & Cowan 9769; Nissen BBI, 1698. A books was written about the expedition and
its publication by A.R. Steel ‘Flowers for the King, the expedition of Ruiz and Pavon and
the Flora of Peru’, 1964.
1
69

[47] SAY, T. The complete writings of Thomas Say on the Entomology of
North America. Edited by John L. Le Conte, with a memoir of the author
by George Ord. New York, Baillière brothers, 1859. 2 volumes. Royal
8vo (230 x 150mm). pp. xxiv, 412; (2), iv, 814, with a charming frontispiece
by C. Lesueur and 54 fine handcoloured engraved plates, and one plain
lithographed not issued with the original edition. Contemporary red half
calf, spines with 2 green gilt lettered labels and gilt lines, topedges gilt.
€ 2900
The Frederick Ducane Godman copy, with his armorial bookplate, of the first edition of
Say’s complete writings edited by John Le Conte. “With the aid of baron Osten-Sacken
on the Diptera and P.R. Uhler on the Hemiptera, Le Conte edited ‘The Complete Writings
of Thomas Say on the Entomology of North America’. This important collection appeared
in two volumes in 1859 and has proven invaluable to American students” (Mallis,
American Entomologists p. 246)
Thomas Say (1787-1834) is often called the ‘father of American Entomology’. and his work
is a first attempt to bring together pictures and details of the North American fauna.
Most of the excellent plates are by T.R. Peale, famous Philadelphia artist, who accompa-
70
47 Say

nied Say on some of his expeditions. The charming frontispiece is by C. Lesueur. “Say’s
reputation is solidly based because of such publications as ‘American Entomology’ and
‘American Conchology’. Both of these important pioneer works in taxonomy are dedicated
to William Maclure, his patron and lifelong friend... Weiss and Ziegler (1931) note that
Say ‘was the first efficient and extensive describer of North American insects, especially
Coleoptera, and the first to demonstrate to Europe that America contained entomologists
whose ability equaled their own’” (Mallis, American Entomologists pp. 23-25).
A beautifully preserved copy.
Nissen ZBI, 3613; Horn & Schenkling 19023.
1
[48] THOMSON, JAMES & HERCULE NICOLET. A unique collection
of Nicolet's art work for Thomson's publications. Hercule Nicolet
is one of the best French natural history artists of the 19th century. The
collection comprises 125 original splendid drawings in watercolour and
a few in ink. Almost all drawings are signed by the artist. The collection
belonged to James Thomson, who had his publications bound in beautiful
bindings mostly with his gilt coat of arms, on spines or front covers. For a
detailed description of this highly interesting collection see below.
€ 38.000
THOMSON, JAMES. Essai d’une classification de la famille des Cérambycides et
matériaux pour servir à une monographie de cette famille. Paris, chez l’auteur, 1860. 8vo
(265 x 170mm). pp. xvi, 396, with 3 engraved plates, bound up with the 3 original drawn
plates for these plates, all signed by Nicolet, as well as 10 unpublished watercolour plates,
signed by Nicolet, for the above work. Contemporary red morocco, gilt coat of arms of
Thomson on frontcover, large gilt coleoptera on backcover, richly gilt ornamented spine
in 6 compartments, gilt edges.
THOMSON, JAMES. Monographie des Cicindélides ou exposé méthodique et critique
des tribus, genres et espèces de cette famille. Paris, au Bureau du Trésorier de la Société
Entomologique de France, 1857. 4to (305 x 233mm). pp. xvii, 66, (2), with 2 identical
frontispieces of which 1 finely handcoloured, and 10 engraved plates of which the first one
is an anatomical plate, plates 2 to 10 are in two states, plain and handcoloured. Bound
up with: the original splendid watercolour drawing for the frontispiece signed by Nicolet
and 13 original watercolour plates, signed by Nicolet, for the 10 plates, plate 3 and 8 are
on 2 leaves and plate 5 double (with some minor changes). Added 10 unpublished original
watercolour plates signed by Nicolet. Contemporary half red morocco, richly gilt ornamented
spine in 5 compartments, with gilt coat of arms of Thomson, gilt edges.
71

72
48 Thomson

THOMSON, JAMES. Monographie de la famille des Monommides de l’ordre des
Coléoptères. Paris, chez l’Auteur, 1860. 8vo (260 x 170mm). pp. 38, with 2 handcoloured
engraved plates. Added 2 watercolour plates signed by Nicolet for the book and 1 unpublished
supplementary watercolour plate. Contemporary green half morocco, gilt coat
of arms of Thomson on frontcover, large gilt coleoptera on backcover, richly gilt ornamented
spine, gilt edges.
THOMSON, JAMES. Archives Entomologiques ou recueil contenant des illustrations
d’insectes nouveaux ou rares. Paris, Societé Entomologique de France, 1857-1858. 2 volumes.
Royal-8vo (260 x 170mm). pp. 514, (2), with handcoloured engraved frontispiece
and 21 engraved plates of which 14 finely handcoloured; pp. 469, (1), with 1 handcoloured
engraved frontispiece and 14 handcoloured engraved plates. Contemporary half
calf, spines with gilt coat of arms of Thomson and gilt ornaments, gilt edges. Added 39
original plates for the above work, of which 34 watercolour drawings and 5 drawings in
ink, almost all signed by Nicolet.
THOMSON, JAMES. Arcana Naturae ou Receuil d’Histoire Naturelle. Paris, chez J.B.
Baillière et Fils, 1859. Folio (390 x 270mm). From this work the following separately
published monographs:
THOMSON, JAMES. Monographie du genre Spheniscus de la famille des Tenebrionidae.
Paris, au bureau du Trésorier de la Société Entomologique de France, 1859. pp. 11,
with 2 engraved plates. Added 1 original watercolour drawing signed by Nicolet, covering
these 2 plates. Contemporary half red calf, spine with coat of arms of Thomson and his
initials J.T.
THOMSON, JAMES. Monographie du genre Batocera de la Famille des Cerambycidae.
Paris, au bureau du Trésorier de la Société Entomologique de France, 1859. pp. 20, with
3 engraved plates. Added 3 original watercolour drawings, signed by Nicolet. These plates
are additional unpublished plates. [And] 2 similar engraved frontispieces to the ‘Arcana
Naturae’ as well as the original splendid watercolour drawing for the frontispiece, signed
by the artist. Contemporary red half calf, gilt lettered spine.
THOMSON, JAMES. Musée scientifique, ou recueil d’histoire naturelle. Paris, chez
l’auteur, 4to. pp. 96, with 9 plates.
Of the above work there is no copy in the collection, however 8 of the original watercolour
drawings, all signed, are present. The first 4 plates are on one large folio leaf, the
remaining are each on one leaf, the original plate 9 is not present.
Loose in a portfolio 36 original drawings in watercolour and a few in ink, some probably
relating to the above works by Thomson, or to Thomson’s publications in periodicals.
Many drawings are signed by Nicolet.
Added are 8 leaves of handwritten text with several pencil drawings on one leaf, most
probably by Nicolet. These drawings are not included in the total count of plates.
73

Hercule Nicolet (1801-1872) was a French-Swiss artist, lithographer, and entomologist. He
was a well known lithographer in Neuchâtel and was closely connected to Louis Agassiz.
Of Agassiz publications almost all the plates were lithographed by him. This includes
Agassiz major works such as ‘Etudes sur les Glaciers’, ‘Les Poissons fossiles’, ‘Histoire naturelle
des poissons d’eau douce de l’Europe centrale’. “Désireux de donner à ses ouvrages
une illustration de haute tenue, il s’entoure de dessinateur et de graveurs de talent et
74
48 Thomson

48 Thomson
75

suscite la création de l’Atelier de lithographie Nicolet qui produira plus de 2000 planches
d’une qualité extraordinaire’ (Exhibition catalogue of ‘Musée d’histoire naturelle’, Neuchâtel,
1983: Louis Agassiz naturaliste romantique… by Dufour & Haenni p. 12). Some
of the plates produced by Nicolet belong to the finest portrayals of fossil fishes and living
specimens, many of the excellent plates utilise metallic colours (silver, bronze, gold) to
convey the appearance of the metallic sheen of scales that has been preserved in the fossil
remains as well as livings specimens.
When Agassiz left Neuchâtel in March 1846 for America, the ‘Institut lithographique’of
Hercule Nicolet soon collapsed.
In the same year Milne-Edwards asked Nicolet to contribute to the ‘Velins du Muséum’.
‘Des 1846, Milne Edwards lui demanda sa collaboration artistique à la collection de vélins
du Muséum d’Histoire naturelle de Paris’ (Cuevas p. 457).
A few years later James Thomson (1828-1897) commissioned Nicolet to illustrate most of
his work, see the here offered collection. James Thomson was an American entomologist
of independent means and lived in France the greater part of his life. He formed a large
collection of Cerambycidae, Buprestidae, Cetonidae, and Lucanidae, which he sold to
Réne Oberthür. The original watercolour of the frontispiece for the ‘Monographie des
Cicindélides’ has the name of James Thomson beneath the coat of arms held by two
cherubs. On the engraved plate the name of James Thomson has been deleted. The same
coat of arms, or the lion alone, is present on a number of the books. The quality of the
original watercolour plates is extraordinary and belongs to the finest ever made in the field
of entomology. His work is breathtaking and the two original watercolour frontispieces
one for the ‘Cicindélides’ and the other for ‘Arcana’ show his genius as an artist.
Nicolet was not only a great artist and lithographer but also an excellent entomologist. His
largest publication is the section on arachnids of Gay’s ‘Historia fisica y politica de Chile’,
published in 1849. Bonnet in his ‘Bibliographia Araneorum’ writes of him as follows: “Un
important travail sur les arachnides du Chili dans lequel il décrit 297 espèces d’araignées,
toutes nouvelles excepté quatre, et dont le plus grand nombre sont en effet maintenues,
car il était le premier à décrire des arachnides de ce pays’. Apart from the above work,
Nicolet published some more articles, among which his ‘Histoire naturelle des Acariens
qui se trouvent aux environs de Paris’, published in the ‘Archives du Muséum’. ‘De l’avis
des spécialistes, ce dernier travail est tout à fait remarquables et fait encore autorité en la
matière’ (Cuevas p. 457).
Hercule Nicolet was a person of great talents and excelled as an artist, lithographer and
scientist. His friend Louis Agassiz was quintessential for his zoological and artistic formation.
The present collection is a unique document of the period.
See: ‘Hercule Nicolet, épisodes redécouverts d’une vie d’artiste naturaliste au XIXème
siecle’ by Arturo Munoz Cuevas in ‘Bol. Soc. Entom. Aragonesa’, no. 39 (2006); Favre, L.
‘Hercule Nicolet. Lithographe’. Musée Neuchâtelois pp. 130-135; Courvoisier, J. ‘Savants,
artistes et graveurs: l’atelier d’Hercule Nicolet, lithographe de Louis Agassiz’, in ‘Aspects
du livre neuchâtelois’ pp. 433-451); Bonnet, P. ‘Bibliographia Araneorum’ p. 35.
- see frontispiece illustration.
1
76

[49] TRYON, G.W. Structural and systematic Conchology: an introduction
to the study of the Mollusca. Philadelphia, published by the author,
1882-84. 3 volumes. 8vo (215 x 140mm). pp. viii, 312; 430; 453, with 1 folding
map and 140 lithographed plates of which 72 finely handcoloured.
Publisher’s cloth, gilt lettered spines. € 2000
The very scarce coloured issue of this privately printed monograph.
Nissen ZBI, 4176.
1
50 Wawra
[50] WAWRA VON FERNSEE, H. Botanische Ergebnisse der Reise
seiner Majestät des Kaisers von Mexico, Maximilian I. nach Brasilien.
Wien 1866. Folio (495 x 345 mm). pp. (4), xvi, 234, (4), with 104 plates of
77

78
50 Wawra
which 32 are chromo-lithographed. Contemporary calf, spine with 3 raised
bands, gilt lines and lettering, frontcovers with gilt and blind pressed ornaments
and lettering. € 4500
A superbly produced work on the flora of Brazil. Wawra, Ritter von Fernsee was marinesurgeon
and accompanied Maximilian I to Brazil in 1859-1960 on the ‘Elisabeth’ . The

publication is an important and valuable contribution to the flora of Brazil, describing
many new species. The plants were collected by the gardener Franz Maly. The publication
of the work was postponed because Wawra accompanied Maximilian to Mexico in
1864 where the latter was to become Emperor. In 1865 Wawra resumed his work and was
assisted by Martius, August von Kremelhuber and Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach. The
plates are by J. Seboth and lithographed by Hartinger & Sohn in Vienna. Especially the
chromo-lithographed plates are of a very high quality. A fine copy.
Brasilien-Bibliothek der Robert Bosch GMBH, 529; Barba de Moraes I, p. 937.
1
[51] WERNER, A.G. Letztes Mineral-System.
Aus dessen Nachlasse
auf oberbergamtliche Anordnung
herausgegeben und mit Erläuterungen
versehen (von J.K. Freiesleben).
Freyberg & Wien, Graz und
Gerlach/ Gerold, 1817. 8vo (203
x 128mm). pp. xiv, 58. Publisher’s
printed decorated wrappers. € 1800
First edition. “The final version of Werner’s
systematic arrangement of minerals,
published posthumously by his students.
A landmark in mineralogy, despite its slim
size” (Wilson, Mineral Books p. 62). Abraham
Gottlob Werner (1749-1817) was
the most prominent German mineralogists
of the period. “Although Werner is
best known for his contribution to the
founding of geology as a science, he first
achieved recognition as a mineralogist. He
considered mineralogy to be the basis for
51 Werner
all the study of the earth, dividing it into
five branches, of which geognosy (historical geology) was one and oryctognosy (descriptive
mineralogy) another. And during all the years in which his theories on geognosy were
arousing so much interest and controversy, he continued to work on his mineralogical
system, the final version of which appeared after his death in 1817 (DSB XIV, p. 257). Title
page with old oval library stamp “K.K. St. Oest. Eisenwerks”, and old signature. A very
well preserved copy.
1
79

[52] WURFFBAIN, J.B. Salamandrologia, h.e. descriptio historico philologico
philosophico medica Salamandrae quae vulgo in igne vivere creditur
... Norimbergae, G. Scheurer, 1683. Small-4to (198 x 163mm). pp. (6),
133, (15), with engraved frontispiece and 5 engraved folded plates. Contemporary
half vellum, spine with red gilt lettered label, marbled sides.
€ 3000
First book on salamanders. The present work is an expanded version of the author’s dissertation
‘Salamandra’, published in 1677. “He dissected salamanders and described the
food contents in the stomach. He confirmed that ‘Salamandra’ is live bearing and found
34 larvae in one female. He also observed the shedding of the animal’s epidermis. And he
proceeded to rebunk most of the prevailing myths...
The plates illustrate the external appearance of several species, the larvae, eggs, skeleton,
internal organs including the urogenital system, and mythical figures from emblems and
hieroglyphics. The two titles represent the first comprehensive basis for our modern understanding
of salamander biology’ (Adler 2, p. 18). J.P. Wurffbain (1655-1711) was a German
physician. Without the leaf ‘directions to binder’ which is often discarded by the
bookbinder.
Nissen ZBI, 4485.
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52 Wurffbain
1