Vincent, Levinus | Wondertooneel der Nature, first edition, and a superb royal copy

Vincent, Levinus

Wondertooneel der Nature. Amsterdam: François Halma (volume 2 Gerard Valk), 1706-1715

2 parts in one volume, 4to (230 x 180 mm). Engraved additional title, double-page engraved frontispiece, title with engraved allegorical vignette, 7 engraved folding plates; occasional and very light spotting. Contemporary reddish-brown crushed morocco, Imperial coat-of-arms on each cover in gilt, sides paneled in gilt, spine decorated in blind, gilt buntpapier endpapers, gauffered edges; arms slightly oxidized, bumped.

First edition, and a superb royal copy, of the richly illustrated catalogue of Dutch textiles merchant Levinus Vincent’s (1658–1727) famed natural history cabinet—one of the most beautiful of all cabinet catalogues. The visitor's book for Vincent's museum records 3,500 visitors including Peter the Great. The striking frontispiece is by Romeyn de Hooghe.

Vincent assembled one of Holland’s great Wunderkammern, encompassing animals, shells, corals, marine plants, minerals, insects, ethnographic pieces, and a supporting library. Gersaint, writing in 1736, recalled visiting the collection after Vincent’s death and being impressed by its range and refinement.

After protracted negotiations, the cabinet was sold to M. P. Bout, deputy of Holland. It was later dispersed at auction in The Hague in 1779, with many specimens informing the work of Valentijn, Cramer, d’Argenville, Petiver, and Knorr.

Two large plates depict the collection: de Hooghe’s frontispiece shows the Amsterdam display, while a double-page plate presents the vast hall at Haarlem in 1705, with visitors examining the arrayed specimens. Additional plates show individual cabinets and drawer contents. The detailed text records the specimens item by item.

A very fine, fresh copy from the library of Schönborn-Buchheim. The book is of some rarity at auction, particularly in such a binding and in such fine condition.

REFERENCES

Landwehr, Romeyn de Hooghe 105. See Florence Fearrington, Rooms of Wonder: From Wunderkammer to Museum, 1599-1899, Grolier Club, 2012, no. 96

PROVENANCE

Counts of Schönborn-Buchheim (supralibros) — Johann Friedrich Oehls, a Leipzig law student, identifying himself as “of the County of Meissen” and associated with the study of natural law (18^th-century inscription on title)