Hand-colored Animals | Regnum Animale, ca. 1810

Vosmaer, A.

Rare, Hand-colored, Animals | Regnum Animale. Natuurkundige afbeeldingen of groot prenteboek voor kinderen, bevattende eene uitmuntende verzameling van zeldzame gedierten, bestaande in Oost- en Westindische viervoetige dieren, vogelen en slangen, weleer levendig voorhanden geweest zijn, buiten Den Haag, op het Klein Loo van Z.D.H. den Prins van Oranje Nassau. Met 26 naar ‘t leven geteekende en gekleurde koperen platen. Zaltbommel, J. Noman, [ca. 1810?].

Name: Rare, Hand-colored, Animals | Regnum Animale. Natuurkundige afbeeldingen of groot prenteboek voor kinderen, bevattende eene uitmuntende verzameling van zeldzame gedierten, bestaande in Oost- en Westindische viervoetige dieren, vogelen en slangen, weleer levendig voorhanden geweest zijn, buiten Den Haag, op het Klein Loo van Z.D.H. den Prins van Oranje Nassau. Met 26 naar 't leven geteekende en gekleurde koperen platen. Zaltbommel, J. Noman, [ca. 1810?].
SKU: 42508
Availability: InStock

Half-linen binding with marbled boards. A luxury, hand-coloured children’s book (Quarto edition, in -4, 25 cm x 21 cm) with a collection of all 35 full-page engravings, including one fold-out. Hand-coloured frontispice pasted on a flyleaf. Some pages have minor marks or stains, in most cases due to the transfer or smearing of color from the original illustrations. Manuscript captions in ink on certain pages indicate animals’ scientific names. One page has slightly heavier smearing (“Oost-indische Papegaaij”). Binding very worn and book block cracked roughly 3/4 through. Otherwise, in very good condition, especially considering the book’s target audience! The Oost Indische Bosch Kat is bound in this book as number VIII (8) and number 8 the OostAfrikaanse kat is bound in this book as number XIII (13). Small tear in the folding print of the skelet of the kameelpaard and a repaired tear on the left of this print. Some prints have some streaks of the color.

The illustrations in this very rare, visually stunning book provide a glimpse into the historical menageries of William V, Prince of Orange. Between 1766 and 1778, the menagerie director, Aernout Vosmaer (1720-1799), wrote descriptions of animals that he had imported from “exotic” locations like Suriname, Borneo, the Philippines, South Africa, and Japan. Each summary was published individually with an accompanying hand-coloured print. In 1805, J.B. Elwe compiled these descriptions and images into a single edition; and, in turn, in 1810, J. Noman prepared this particular edition, comprised of only images–a “picture book for children”. Remarkable for the rich color and detail, this volume–copies of which have rarely survived–also attests to the far-reaching effects of Dutch colonialism, including on material culture, children’s education, and studies in natural history.

B0975.

Papegaai – handgekleurde platen – natuurlijke historie – vogels – slangen – giraf – skelet – Vosmaer – prentenboek voor kinderen – kolonialisme – opvoeding kinderen

SKU: 42508

Plates by A. Schouman, G. van den Heuvel, P.C. Haag, G. Haasbroek, C. van Kuik, and Van Noorden; engraved by S. Fokke, C. Bogerts, and Du Boulois (5 plates unsigned).

Aernout Vosmaer (1720-1799) was a Dutch naturalist and collection curator. In 1756 he became the director of a natural history collection started by Princess Anna, the wife of William IV, Prince of Orange and continued by their son William V. Vosmaer held the post until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. Regnum animale is in Latin the realm of the animals (Het dierenrijk). Vosmaer’s private collection became the basis of the Stadholder Willem V’s (1748-1806) cabinet and menagerie. Vosmaer (1720-1799) devoted a lot of time to systematically organizing and describing the Stadholderly cabinet which was situated in The Hague. The menagerie of living animals was kept at the country house “Het kleine Loo”. From 1766 onward, Vosmaer started publishing detailed and illustrated descriptions of some of the exotic animals that were kept in the cabinet and the menagerie. Between 1766 and 1787 he published thirty-one such descriptions, and in 1804 two more pieces appeared posthumously. The 33 descriptions were then republished in one volume in the same year, under the title Regnum Animale. In 1766 Vosmaer described a springbok, which he calle “pronk-bokje” literally flaunting goat. In July 1774 the Stadholder received two living springboks sent to him by Cape commander, Mr. Gordon. One of them, the female, died soon but the other lived for a long time.

[NL] Arnout Vosmaer was een natuuronderzoeker, dierkundige en conservator van het menagerie (dierenverzameling) van Stadhouder Willem V van Oranje.

€ 2.616,00 (€ 2.400,00 ex. btw)

In stock