Descrizione

Amsterdam, F. Houttuyn, 1781. 8vo (21.6 x 13.2 cm). Title page with woodcut vignette, x, 708 pp.; 12 finely engraved, originally hand-coloured plates. Contemporary polished quarter calf over marbled boards. Spine with gilt ornamental bands and red morocco label with gilt title. Edges speckled red. = A complete, originally coloured part - the only one dealing with plant fossils, stones found inside animals, and mineral soils - of the main Dutch natural history encyclopaedia of the 18th century, compiled by the Dutch medical doctor and naturalist Martinus Houttuyn (1720-1798) and often referred to as the "Linnaeus Houttuyn" edition. The plates show fossil shells, fish, corals, etc., etc. The descriptions are very detailed and contains a wealth of incidental information not brought together in this form elsewhere, not even by Linnaeus himself. And unlike most of Linnaeus's works, this one is finely illustrated in colour. Provenance: pictorial bookplate of W. H. van Seters mounted on the front pastedown. Wouter Hendrik van Seters (1891-1976) was a Dutch biologist and comparative anatomist. Binding a bit rubbed, front hinge partly split; endpapers glue-toned in corners, text and plates, however, clean. An attractive copy regarding both the binding and contents. Nissen ZBI, 2011; Soulsby, 73.