Job

1817 · ABC_49394 — Utrecht 1817. 4to. O.J. van Paddenburg and O.J. van Dijk Early 20th-century quarter white cloth marbled paper sides. With 29 contemporary hand-coloured folding engraved plates. 2 parts in 1 volume each part divided in 3 sections. "169" = 159 4 1 blank; "167" = 159 4 1 blank pp. Rare edition of a work on Dutch marine life with 29 beautifully hand-coloured plates. The work describes the fish molluscs crustaceans corals and seaweeds that can be found in the Dutch North Sea in particular in the province of Zeeland. The plates were drawn from life and the explanations of the plates often mention where the depicted specimen was found. The present edition is quite rare as we have only been able to find one other copy in sales records and nine in libraries.The present edition is a reissue of Natuurkundige uitspanningen behelzende eenige waarneemingen over sommige zee-planten en zee-insecten which was published in six instalments from 1762-1765. A Latin edition titled Opuscula subseciva was published simultaneously. All three editions contain the same plates but the dedications and the divisional title pages of the different instalments where omitted in the present edition which is why there are gaps in the pagination. It is however complete. This edition is the most scarce of the three.Job Baster 1711-1775 was a Dutch physician botanist and naturalist born in Zierikzee. He corresponded with Linnaeus and became a fellow of the Royal Society in London. He was the first to import goldfishes from China and acclimatised them successfully to his garden pond. He was interested in a wide variety of subjects and also wrote works on the earth's atmosphere the weather and birds but the present work is his most well-known. It was intended to be longer but Baster was forced to stop when he suddenly became blind in one eye in 1764. The magazine of the Dutch malacological society is named after him because of his contributions to the field of zoology.The spine is browned the marbled paper on the front board is discoloured. The work is uncut and somewhat browned throughout the top outer corner and the lower half of the fore edge margin of the title page have been reinforced a water stain in the lower outer corner of the final leaf and the four plates at the end. Otherwise in good condition.l Landwehr Dutch books with coloured plates 11; Nissen ZBI 248; STCN 434837830 3 copies; WorldCat 64148142 9 copies; cf. Engel H. Over een merkwaardige variant van Baster's Natuurkundige uitspanningen. In: Basteria 6 1941 pp. 1-10; Nissen BBI 86 other ed.; Wellcome II p. 112 other ed. hardcover