Eilenburg, Christian Heinrich | Description du Cabinet Roial de Dresde touchant l’histoire naturelle

Eilenburg, Christian Heinrich

Description du Cabinet Roial de Dresde touchant l’histoire naturelle. Dresden and Leipzig: George Conrad Walther, 1755

4to (276 x 210 mm). Engraved title vignette, 2 engraved folding plates, and 2 engraved headpieces; a few minor instances of light soiling and pale spotting. Near contemporary half brown sheep, over black and brown speckled boards, spine gilt lettered and ruled with six raised bands; some light rubbing and wear to the spine, the bottom edge, and the corners.

The scarce, French language issue of Eilenburg’s descriptive catalog of the natural history collections at the Zwinger Museum in Dresden. The catalog describes mineral, fossil, botanical, anatomical, zoological, and coral specimens, and provides information about the collections’ histories and highlights. The final chapter describes an intricate model of Solomon’s Temple, which had been constructed over the course of twenty years by a man from Hamburg named Schott. The plates show the floor plan of the museum, one for each floor, and the headpiece vignettes show views of the building and grounds.

This French language issue, as well as a German language issue (see lot 92), and an issue with the titles and text in both languages, were all published in the same year. While none are common, the French language version seems to come up at auction with less frequency than the others.

REFERENCES

Schuh (2008), Vol. I, 1506