Kundmann, Johann Christian | An extensive catalogue of a German Wunderkammer, describing shells, fossils, minerals, and stones

Kundmann, Johann Christian

Rariora Naturae & Artis item in Re Medica, oder Seltenheiten der Natur und Kunst des Kundmannischen Naturalien-Cabinets, wie auch der Artzney-Wissenschaft. Breslau & Leipzig: Michael Hubert, 1737

Folio (312 x 209 mm). Title printed in red and black, engraved portrait of the author, 19 engraved plates, 2 double-page tables, and numerous woodcuts in the text; very light spotting and toning. Contemporary half vellum; repair to foot of spine.

First edition of the extensive catalogue of Johann Christian Kundmann’s celebrated wunderkammer, one of the most beautiful and comprehensive German natural history collections of the eighteenth century. A Breslau physician, Kundmann assembled shells, minerals, fossils, animals, and curiosities of every description, systematically arranged and described in this richly illustrated work. Among the chapters are detailed accounts of fossil and crystal formations, amber, petrified wood, and rare stones, with observations on the plague in Breslau from 1700 to 1715.

REFERENCES

Hoover 497; Waller 5457

PROVENANCE

Johann Christian Kundmann(?) (Latin inscription on the endpaper possibly in his hand)