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1800 · ABC_48443 — The Netherlands 1800. Splendid late 18th-century ca. 1790 gold-tooled red morocco sewn on 4 supports with a smooth spine bound by the so-called Second Dissertation Bindery Leiden ca. 1780-ca. 1794; Storm van Leeuwen IIA pp. 350-358 with 4 closing loops on the front board 1 top edge 2 fore-edge 1 bottom edge connecting to 4 closing knotted buttons on the back board. Both boards show 3 gold-tooled floral frames built up from 2 different rolls with small corner pieces in between the inner frame with 4 larger floral corner pieces and a large lozenge shaped centrepiece built up from multiple impressions of 5 different floral and animal stamps. Further with a gold-tooled spine and board edges gilt edges and marbled endpapers. Large 4to. With 162 signatures on 160 vellum or paper cuttings mostly vellum including 2 cuttings with 2 signatures each mostly from the 17th century some from the 18th century and a few from the early 19th century. Further with one large printed coat of arms of the Wassenaer family on the verso of the title-page an engraving ca. 9.5 x 7 cm showing the house of Jacob Cats on the verso of leaf 34 and with 19 printed coats of arms on the versos of several leaves 16 depicting a coat of arms with the name of the family below and 3 blank shields. The title page headings and captions all in a very neat late-18th-century or early 19th-century cursive script written in Dutch using brown ink. Remarkable collection of 162 signatures of mainly 17th-century 16th- to early 19th century Dutch and international prominent people - from statesmen like Stadtholder Maurice of Orange Count of Nassau etc. and Grand Pensionary of Holland Johan de Witt 1625-1672 royals like King Philip II of Spain 1527-1598 and William III of Orange Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic and later King of England Scotland and Ireland 1650-1702 and government officials like "Griffier" to the States General François Fagel 1629-1746 the most important clerk of the Dutch Republic's government to authors poets and scholars like P.C. Hooft 1581-1627 and Nicolaas Tulp 1593-1674. For each individual mentioned in the present work their signature - on a separate vellum or paper cutting mounted on the recto of the leaf - appears next to a short biographical description. Some biographical descriptions are more extensive than others but two names appear without any further information. The first is Caspar Clotterbooke leaf 30 who is listed as a secretary for the council of the States of Holland in the 18th century 1778. He was born in The Hague in 1720 held several high positions in the councils of Haarlem and the States of Holland as a representative of that city and died childless in 1817. The second is Hendrik Nobel who is listed in the second part among royals statesmen military commanders scholars and others. He lived from 1568 to 1649 and was appointed as "bewindvoerder" administrator or governor of the Rotterdam Chamber of the Dutch East India Company VOC. In two cases one cutting contains two signatures - those of Johan van Hoorn and Abraham van Riebeek appear together as well as those of Adriaan Valkenier and Johannes Thedens; all four were Governor General of the Dutch East Indies resp. from 1704-9 1709-13 1737-41 and 1741-43. In the case of William III two signatures are included for one single individual - the first is his signature as Prince of Orange and the second is his signature as King of England Scotland and Ireland "William R.". The work was bound by the so-called Second Dissertation Bindery in Leiden which was active at the end of the 18th-century between ca. 1780-1794 Storm van Leeuwen. The work was most likely produced as an album with blank leaves to be used as a notebook or scrapbook album of some sort at a later date. The paper used in the album is clearly watermarked throughout for example a lion within a crowned medallion pro patria eiusque libertate countermarked J. Honig & Zoonen. The firm Honig or Honigh Zaandam the Netherlands was active from the late 17th century until the late 19th century but was known as J. Honig & Zoonen during the 18th century. The paper is most likely contemporary to the binding. While several of the cuttings containing signatures are also dated - as part of the signature itself or separately added - these dates represent the exact or otherwise approximate date the particular signature was produced. The majority of the signatures can be traced back to the 17th century but were probably cut from official hence the vellum documents to be sold as collector's items around the beginning of the 19th century.The present work was part of the collection of A.M. van den Broek 1932-1995 an antiquarian book print and art collector from Haarlem. His collection mainly contained works focussed on Haarlem and its surroundings. The present work includes 7 signatures from prominent Haarlem representatives in the "Commons" the council of the States of Holland during the 17th- and 18th centuries.The binding shows very slight signs of wear two scratches on the front board some rubbing along the spine and closing knotted buttons on the back board the gutter of the first and second front flyleaves is slightly exposed without affecting the integrity of the binding. Further with some minor offsetting on the blank versos of the leaves from the signature cuttings. Otherwise in very good condition. A remarkable collection of signatures from mainly 17th century prominent Dutch and international statesmen and other famous people.l Cf. for the binding: Storm van Leeuwen IIA pp. 350-358. hardcover