Albertus Seba's collection of natural specimens and its pictorial inventory
Excerpt from the book 'Albertus Seba's Cabinet of Natural Curiosities'
Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
Whether or not originally in colour the Thesaurus remains an impressive example of a Baroque book. The artistic composition of every plate is particularly remarkable in the first volume, with all the pictorial elements combined into an overall composition. In emulation of Merian, the animals and plants are skilfully positioned and often arranged in little scenes, which adds considerably to their life-like effect as well as to their informative value. The illustrations in the second, third and fourth volumes, which rely much less on previously published sources, increasingly follow contemporary conventions in scientific literature. Thus the animals are arranged in neat rows, properly separated by genus. For best possible visual clarity, the animals are portrayed without any overlapping and with their size ratios correct. What was retained, though, was an ornamental arrangement of the objects on the plates, which is demonstrated by the symmetrically arranged snake plates as well as by artistically arranged shells and insects. That the display of a collection was aimed as much at satisfying the eye as the mind is illustrated by a surviving drawer full of shells from 1725. The shells form a mosaic of diverse shapes and brilliant colours that is comparable to some of Seba`s seashell plates. Just as with the collection, there were thus always two aspects to the illustrations: they served both scientific instruction and aesthetic appreciation.
A new edition of Seba`s work was published in the second half of the 18th century, and the illustrations were still considered valuable enough to be reprinted again in the following century. The Thesaurus treated an important collection of natural specimens of the early 18th century. As a book, the actual stationary collection became mobile and permanently accessible to many interested persons – even when the collection itself had long been scattered to the four winds.
Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
Whether or not originally in colour the Thesaurus remains an impressive example of a Baroque book. The artistic composition of every plate is particularly remarkable in the first volume, with all the pictorial elements combined into an overall composition. In emulation of Merian, the animals and plants are skilfully positioned and often arranged in little scenes, which adds considerably to their life-like effect as well as to their informative value. The illustrations in the second, third and fourth volumes, which rely much less on previously published sources, increasingly follow contemporary conventions in scientific literature. Thus the animals are arranged in neat rows, properly separated by genus. For best possible visual clarity, the animals are portrayed without any overlapping and with their size ratios correct. What was retained, though, was an ornamental arrangement of the objects on the plates, which is demonstrated by the symmetrically arranged snake plates as well as by artistically arranged shells and insects. That the display of a collection was aimed as much at satisfying the eye as the mind is illustrated by a surviving drawer full of shells from 1725. The shells form a mosaic of diverse shapes and brilliant colours that is comparable to some of Seba`s seashell plates. Just as with the collection, there were thus always two aspects to the illustrations: they served both scientific instruction and aesthetic appreciation.
A new edition of Seba`s work was published in the second half of the 18th century, and the illustrations were still considered valuable enough to be reprinted again in the following century. The Thesaurus treated an important collection of natural specimens of the early 18th century. As a book, the actual stationary collection became mobile and permanently accessible to many interested persons – even when the collection itself had long been scattered to the four winds.
Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
Albertus Seba's Cabinet of Natural Curiosities
Hardcover, 29 x 44 cm (11.4 x 17.3 in.), 636 pages
$ 200.00
$ 200.00
Albertus Seba's Cabinet of Natural Curiosities - One of the most prized natural history books of all time
Amstelaedami, Apud H. C. Arksteum et H. Merkum, et Petrum Schouten. MDCCLXV (1765)