Beschrijving
Amsterdam, Jan Hendricksz. ende Jan Rieuwertsz., 1657, 8vo., 568 pp., conservational binding (Zaansch Bord, handmade paper) with the sewing on cords visible, the book has been skillfully restored and resewn and the missing pages/signatures have been added to complete the content (modern reproductions, made to blend in with the original parts of the book, the last signature with the index is not present, since no good reproductions were available, it concerns pages 311-314, 449-544 and 561-568). The original binding was a half leather binding with decorative paper. This binding is added in a seperatie folder, but could not be reused after restoring the book block. The book comes with a restoration report (in Dutch). The book is in good condition being skillfully restored with a solid binding. Some stains remain and the paper is somewhat ruffled along the edges keeping the feel of an old book alive. The conservational binding can easily be removed to have the book bound to your own taste. It comes with a custom made folder.
The book is divided in 5 parts: humans, animals on 4 legs and crawling animals, birds, small animals and insects (vermin), fish and other water animals. Apart from the engraved titlepage depicting Adam and Eve in paradise, there are 38 more original engravings present and 14 reproductions, most are illustrations of animals we know today (e.g. elephant, lion, rhino, cameleon, lizzard, armadillo, turtle, eagle, ibis, turkey, seal), but there are also creatures we've referred to the realm of fantasy: dragon, satyr, feniks and mermaid. There is a woodcut printer's mark (myn glas loopt ras) on the titepage.
