D'Amboinsche Rariteitkamer, Behelzende eene Beschryvinge van allerhande zoo weeke als harde Schaalvisschen te weeten raare Krabben, Kreeften, en diergelyke Zeedieren als medeallerhande Hoorntjes en Schulpen, die men in d'Amboinsche Zee vindt: daar beneven zommige Mineraalen, Gesteenten, en soorten van Aarde, die in d'Amboinsche, en zommige omleggende Eilanden gevonden worden.
Eur 7,500 / USD 7,800
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Amsterdam, François Halma, 1705. Folio (435 x 270mm). pp. (32), 340, (44), with an engraved frontispiece and an engraved portrait of Rumpf, several engraved vignettes and 60 engraved plates after Maria Sybilla Merian. Recent vellum, spine with brown gilt lettered label.
This is the first great natural history of tropical marine life
Large Paper copy of the first edition of this highly important work on tropical marine life, especially shells, of the Molucca Islands in the Indian Archipelage. "This is the first great natural history of tropical marine life. Remarkable for its detailed observations of living animals, habitats, and fisheries, as well as the accuracy of its morphological descriptions and classifications, the entire work reflects Rumphius's practical talents as engineer, merchant, and student of local cultures, as well as pioneer naturalist. Rumphius provides an invaluable window on the richness of tropical nature as it used to be" (From the backcover of Beekman's English translation).
Rumphius, called the 'Indian Pliny', spent most of his life in the employ of the Dutch East Indies Company and was stationed on the island of Ambon in eastern Indonesia. He wrote two major works, the present one, which is his most famous and his 'Herbarium Amboinense' a flora of Ambon.
"Nevertheless, even a cursory examination of the 'Amboinsche Rariteitkamer' reveals the outstanding talents of its originator, for the 'Amboinese Curiosity Cabinet', despite its unpromising title, is full of accurate and detailed observations on the invertebrate animals encountered by him and molluscs are given special attention. He was admirably situated for the study of natural history and his prolonged isolation from the cultural centre of the world enabled him to contemplate Nature with a mind free from dogma, superstition and the false values of a dilettante. First and foremost he was a brilliant field naturalist. He was a man with a remarkable gift for descriptions in which he pointed to just those details of a certain animal which distinguish it from its congeners.... As in nearly all pre-Linnaean works the nomenclature Rumphius employed is not consistently binominal but many of his names were so apt that Linnaeus made unashamed use of some of them..." (Dance, 'A History of Shell collecting' pp. 26-27).
Recent research has proved that most of the plates are after drawings by Maria Sybilla Merian. Following her return from Surinam Maria Sibylla Merian accepted a commission to do the illustrations for the 'Amboinsche Rariteitkamer'. She used shells held in various famous Dutch collections of the period. Her drawings for the 1705 edition of Rumphius' book are in the Archives of the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg. The plates of this rare first edition are superior to the later editions and the work was popular among owners of curiosity cabinets as well as collectors of minerals.
"There is no doubt that Wichmann is correct when he states that we have to thank Rumphius for "the first description of Indonesian minerals. And they are precise enough to enable us to identify the various kinds in terms of contemporary knowledge. In this respect, Rumphius had no precursors". Book 3 provides us with a "topographical mineralogy of the Indonesian Archipelago." (Beekman p. cii)
An English translation of the present work, with an excellent introduction by E.M. Beekman was published by Yale University Press.
Nissen ZBI, 3518; Landwehr 591; see also Beekman, 'The Ambonese Curiosity Cabinet', 1999; Wilson, 'The history of mineral collecting 1530-1799', p. 191; Wettengl (Ed.), 'Maria Sibylla Merian 1647-1717 Artist and Naturalist', cat. no. 161.