2510 - 2895 OLD and RARE BOOKS from the library of P.J. Buijnsters and L. Buijnsters-Smets
- Occas. a few sm. stains (mostly in margins). Otherwise a fine copy.
- Crossed out owner's entry on first free endpaper. = De Backer/ Sommervogel V, p.1735; BCNI 9578.
- Sl. later owner's entries on first and final free endpapers. A very fine copy.
= Large paper copy. Nijhoff/ Van Hattum 8.
- Some sl. occas. foxing. Binding sl. rubbed at extremities. A fine copy.
= Landwehr, Dutch Books w. Col. Plates 381 ("the first Dutch topographical work published with (coloured) aquatint plates"); Nijhoff/ Van Hattum 217; Harlemia Illustrata 726-738. Contains beautiful views of mansions, mainly in the surroundings of Haarlem and near De Vecht: Velserbeek (2x), Boekenrode (2), Waterland (2), Elswoud, Berckenrode (2), Oosterduin (2), Hoffwerk, Rupelmonde, Over-Holland (2), Trompenburgh (2), Schaffelaar (2), Het Klooster ("by Heemstede") (2), Voorland (2) and Karssenhof. Very fine and rare series, originally published in instalments: "Numan could (...) paint subtle water-colours and, in 1793, sent out a circular letter with two coloured prints of two mansions, inviting subscriptions for a whole series of such pictures. During the period 1793-1797, he published this series of extremely fine engravings (...)" (Landwehr, p.37f).
- Binding worn. Otherwise fine. = Lipsius/ Leitzmann p.8.
- Sl. later owner's entry on upper pastedown. Otherwise a very fine copy.
- A few closed tears (1x a large tear in image); blank lower outer corner of title-p. of vol. 2 restored. Otherwise a very clean and fine copy.
= The first Dutch translation of the original Latin edition Mundus subterraneus (Amst., 1664). Wellcome III, 395; Nissen ZBI 2197; Sabin 37968; Dünnhaupt 16; Caillet 5783 ("Le plus curieux des nombreux ouvrages de ce savant"); Ferguson I, 467; De Backer-S. IV, 1060. B.L. Merrill, Athanasius Kircher, no.17: "The Mundus subterraneus, perhaps the most popular of Kircher's works in his day and the best known in ours, is cited in letters and works of such contemporaries as Martin Lister (1639-1712), the zoologist and geologist; Robert Moray (1608?-73), chemist, metallurgist, and first president of the Royal Society; the philosophers Baruch Spinoza (1632-77) and John Locke (1632-1704); Henry Oldenburg (1618-77), the secretary of the Royal Society and the first professional scientific administrator; Nicolaus Steno (1638-86), the anatomist and geologist; and the physicist Christian Huygens (1629-95). The basis and impetus for the Mundus subterraneus was Kircher's visit to Sicily in 1637-38, where he witnessed an eruption of Aetna and Stromboli. He prefaced the work with his own narrative of the trip, including his spectacular descent into Vesuvius upon his return to Italy. His observations of these volcanoes led him to conclude that the center of the earth is a massive internal fire for which the volcanoes are mere safety valves.
But the work is not solely geologic. Kircher continues with fantastic speculations about the interior of the earth, its hidden lakes, its rivers of fire, and its strange inhabitants. Major topics include gravity, the moon, the sun, eclipses, ocean currents, subterranean waters and fires, meteorology, rivers and lakes, hydraulics, minerals and fossils, subterranean giants, beasts and demons, poisons, metallurgy and mining, alchemy, the universal seed and the generation of insects, herbs, astrological medicine, distillation, and fireworks. In this work he discloses his experience with palingenesis: he had allegedly resuscitated a plant from its ashes. Much of the work deals with alchemy. Kircher ridicules Paracelsus' belief in transmutation and discredits the work of alchemists in general, complaining about the obscurity of their writings. This diatribe brought him vicious criticism and abuse later in life from alchemists who no longer feared the authority of the Jesuit order. Kircher does, however, praise the work of the "true chemist," the chymiotechnicus."
- Frontisp. sl. dam. in outer corners and inner margin; outer margin of frontisp. strengthened on verso. A very good copy.
= Krivatsy 10958; Poggendorff II, p.907-908. Cf. Scheepers I, 571 and Waller 1541 (first ed. 1638). Dutch translation of this popular work on sorcery & witchcraft, magic potions, the power of imagination on (imagined) diseases etc. Includes a treatise on invulnerability in war, a magic salve for the treatment of wounds and a refutation of Paracelsus. The frontispiece depicts a magician laying magic bones at a sick-bed. "He was the first to introduce chemistry as a subject of the medical curriculum and to make a serious effort to harmonise the doctrines of the Galenic medicine with what he considered true in Paracelsus' doctrines. Though of immense learning and fully alive to certain current errors (...) he still believed in transmutation, in the application of astrology to medicine and in the supernatural origin of disease." (Ferguson, Bibl. Chemica 2, p.372). Rare.
- New endpapers; plate sl. foxed. = The third part concerns the national character of the Dutch.
- Fine copy.
= Funck 374; Belg. Typogr., nr. 2284; Van de Waal II, p. 172-175; Hollstein, Van der Borcht vol.V, 2349-2358; Pettegree NB 23265. Generally considered the rarest of Ortelius' works, this work shows the strong interest of geographer Ortelius in matters of history. The 10 engravings each illustrate a specific aspect in the life and culture of the ancient Germanic tribes: "Infantia", "Indoles", "Vita Familiaris", "Frugalitas & Gula", "Connubia", "Bellandi Mos", "Funeralia", "Legum administratio", "Religio" and "Dotes".
- From the collection of J.A. Borms with his stamp on lower pastedown. Inner margin stained throughout.
- Library and cancellation stamps on htitle and title; foxed. Upper joint starting. Binding sl. rubbed.
= Nijhoff/ Van Hattum 159.
- Without the map. Paper over backcover of vol. 2 chafed. Otherwise very fine.
= Comprises profiles of Deventer, Hasselt, Kampen, Swartsluis and Zwolle and 4 townviews of Deventer.
- Trifle foxed. Top of spine dam.; corners showing; rubbed spots on covers.
= Rare. Howgego W41; Cat. NHSM p.233; Cox II, p.202f. The first Dutch edition. In 1783 the East India Packet Antelope under command of Henry Wilson, ran onto a reef near one of the Palau Islands, a previously unexplored group of islands, and was wrecked. The crew reached shore and were well treated by the natives. From the wreck they built a small boat in which they managed to get to Macau, taking with them Prince Lee Boo, the son of king Abba Thule. Lee Boo soon died of smallpox in England.
= Cf. Scheepers I, 144 (4 works bound in one vol., two of which are contained in the present work). From the library of V. de la Montagne.
- Occas. yellowed/ sl. browned and stained; all. vols. sm. bookseller's ticket on upper pastedown. Spines cracking and sl. rubbed.
= Goedeke IV, 1, p.264; Schulte-Strathaus 77c; Kippenberg I, 581; BMN II, p.39. The charming decoration for this work, vignettes and larger and smaller plates and illustrations, was newly executed by J.R. Schellenberg, R. Brichtet, J. Hegi, J. Heidegger and others. The text was selected by Lavater himself from parts of his monumental first German edition (Leipsic, 1775), revised under his supervision and translated into Dutch by Joh. W. van der Haar.
Idem. Handleiding tot de physionomiekunde. Dordrecht, A. Blussé en Zoon, 1780/ 1782, 2 vols., 247,(1); VI,242,(4)p., 2 diff. engr. title-vignettes, 8 plates and 15 ills., all (silhouette-) portraits, contemp. unif. vellum.
- Uncut copy; vague waterstain in lower margin throughout; title w. remnant of bookplate (incl. glue stains).
= Very rare. A second part was published in the same year with the same title. Buisman 2332; Waller 1760; Scheepers II 286; Muller 217: ""Een weinig Morale met zeer boert vermengd", zegt de voorrede, en dat "omdat men zo veele droevige en drooge Moralisten op de baan ziet komen": een steek op de vertoogen der Spectators".
- A few plates sl. creased on folds; second part p.34-62 sl. waterstained in upper outer corner. Vellum trifle stained.
= From the library of Bob Luza. Buisman 26; this ed. not in Muller/ De Vries/ Scheepers.
- Partly waterstained in upper blank margin; contemp. annots. on 2nd blank.
- Title waterstained and repaired on verso w. very thin fibres; waterstained throughout
= This edition not in the usual reference works. Cf. Buisman 114; cf. Muller, America 2131; cf. Waller 218; cf. Scheepers II, 1026 (all ed. 1662); Muller 839/840 (other eds.); "Klaas Compaan was een zeer populaire figuur in de 17e eeuw. Na jarenlange rooftochten, kreeg hij pardon van de Staten, en eindigde zijn leven aan de Zaan, waar hij zijn geroofde schatten grootendeels weêr verloor". The first book on piracy ever published. First published in 1659 it became an immediate success which went through many editions in the 17th and 18th centuries. Now all these editions are scarce, but especially the 17th cent. editions (1659, 1662, 1675 and 1688) are hardly ever found on the market. The legendary Claes Gerritsz. Compaen (1587-±1656) was born in Oostzaan, The Netherlands. He was a tremendously daring pirate who was pardoned by the Dutch government to persuade him to retire. He returned to Oostzaan and lived some peaceful 20 years spending the enormous fortunes obtained at sea.