De gewigtigste geschiedenissen des Bybels, afgebeeld in twee honderd twee en vijftig printverbeeldingen [...] met eene zaaklijke uitbreiding opgehelderd [Missing one plate with two images]
Amsterdam; Dordrecht; Leyden; Harlingen: J. de Groot; G. Warnars; P. den Hengst; A. and P. Blusse; S. and J. Luchtmans; V. van der Plaats, 1791. Second edition. Hardcover. Folio (17 1/2 x 11"). XII, 129, [1]pp (Text), [125] leaves (Plates). Contemporary 3/4 calf over illustrated paper cover boards, with gold lettering and tooling to spine. Raised bands. Decorative tailpieces. Second edition of this striking illustrated Bible (the original was published without any text) containing no less than 250 splendid copper engravings on 125 plates (out of 252 images on 126 plates). The plates have been engraved by the finest Dutch and French artists of the period, such as Jan Caspar Philips, Pierre Tanje, Simon Fokke, Jacob Folkema, Frans De Bakker, Claude Duflos, Pierre Quentin Chedel, and Lestol. Binding rubbed on spine and along edges, with some abrasion to calf. Tail of spine chipped. One leaf featuring the following two engravings missing: Adam en Eva eten van den verbooden Boom, and Adam en Eva verbergen zich in den Hof. Some pages have been expertly repaired, and remargined. Sporadic closed tears repaired with non-abrasive tape. Page 7/8 repaired but suffered some minor loss of text. Upper half of pp. 93/94 heavily foxed, thus affecting the upper image of each facing plate. Moderate closed tears, foxing and age-toning along paper margin (not affecting text or plates). Text in Dutch. Captions in Dutch and French. Binding in overall fair to good-, interior in good to good+, plates in very good, images in near fine to fine condition. g- to vg. Item #18863
About the author: Ysbrand van Hamelsveld (1743-1812) was a Dutch Reformed minister and professor of theology. This radical Patriot had preached patriotism from the pulpit and even had called upon the male members of his flock to take up arms against stadtholder, William V. Forced to resign his offices after 1787 (when the troops of Frederick William II of Prussia crushed the Patriots), Van Hamelsveld became a professional writer and translator.
Price: $2,750.00