Paludanus Bernardus (1 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Fine. An exceptional copy, crisp and clean, bound in contemporary ivory vellum (lightly soiled), stamped with armorial crest and fleurs-de-lis in silver. Mended tear to the verso of the genealogical plate. Provenance: From the library of Count Franz Ehrenreich von Trauttmannsdorff (Austrian diplomat, 1662?1719), with -in addition to his arms on the binding- two versions of his engraved bookplate on the front and rear paste-downs. The Count?s library, auctioned after his death in 1719, was one of the most extensive of those assembled by the Habsburg monarchs. The illustrated catalogue of the Kunst- und Wunderkammer of Frederick III, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, is one of the rarest of all Wunderkammer books. Frederick had purchased the famous Kunst-kammer of the Dutch physician Bernardus Paludanus from his heirs in 1651, using Adam Olearius (1603-1671) as intermediary, and brought it to his castle at Gottorf, north of Schleswig. This edition also contains a second work: a genealogy of the House of Schleswig-Holstein, illustrated with a genealogical tree. There are numerous New World specimens illustrated in the book: manatees, bighorn sheep, rattlesnake, toucans, birds of paradise, sloths, armadillos, iguanas, Native American rattle-chains (with nut shells), various fruit and fish, as well as artifacts from Greenland. The Wunderkammer: The frontispiece depicts the Kunst- und Wunderkammer as seen through a portal flanked by two mannequins, one of them wearing a suit of armor brought from Ceylon for display. Inside the museum one can glimpse Egyptian statues, a narwhal horn, taxidermy (fish, marine mammals, and what appears to be an impossibly massive chameleon) hanging from the ceiling, tables with shells, as well as snakes slithering on the floor, and a Russian icon of St. Nicolas. The 37 engraved plates ?The Gottorf Kunstkammer is of great interest, as it incorporated the famous cabinet of Paludanus of Enkhuysen who had travelled widely in the East. The cabinet was acquired for the Duke by Olearius who had himself travelled in Russia and Persia in the 1630s, and became the ducal librarian and keeper of the cabinet in 1649. "The ethnographic collection is particularly important and included Inuit artifacts from Greenland, such as kayaks and costumes, an unusual runic calendar, and an idol from the Davis Straits decorated with feathers. The costumes appear to have been displayed on suitably ethnic models and range from Chinese, Persian and Tartar costumes to a suit of armor from Ceylon and a Mexican woman?s skirt, necklace of animal?s teeth, and headdress. A Russian icon of St. Nicolas and two Russian costumes must have been acquired by Olearius on his journey there in 1633-5. Other treasures included a range of Egyptian figures, a mummy, and an Indian Buddha. One plate illustrates four paintings of portrait heads, representations of the seasons, cleverly composed of fruit, flowers and vegetables, which are quite possibly by the hand of Arcimboldo himself, although not so attributed by Olearius. The large natural-history collection included specimens from Africa and South America with a variety of horns and antlers, swordfish, squid and turtles, birds of paradise and exotic creatures of every description, shells, coral and fossils.? (Grinke, From Wunderkammer to Museum n 42, 1674 edition) According to Ekman, the costumes were displayed on mechanical mannequins (The birth of the museum in the Nordic countries, Kunstkammer, museology and museography, p. 11). Another highlight was the Gottorf globe, predecessor to the modern planetarium, and which now, thanks to Peter the Great, resides in the Kunstkammer Museum in St. Petersburg. By the mid eighteenth century the Gottorf Kunstkammer had been annexed to the royal Danish Collection. The author: Adam Olearius (German name, Adam Ölschläger) first arrived at the court of Duke Frederick III in 1639, and was appointed court mathematician and librarian. He is also remembered for his diplomatic activities on behalf of his home state of Holstein. He was part of two ambassadorial delegations that visited Russia and later, Persia, seeking to establish an overland trade route to Persia. The commercial aims of the journeys were largely unsuccessful but Olearius afterwards published his detailed observations in a travel book that had several editions and translations and which introduced Europe to Persian culture, ?Offt begehrte Beschreibung Der Newen Orientalischen Reise? 1647. The ?Gottorffische Kunst-Kammer? is here bound together with a two-part history of the Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein, ?Holsteinische Chronica aus des Herrn Christian Solini,? (pp. 72, [4]) together with Olearius? own continuation, ?Kurtzer Begreiff einer Holsteinischen Chronic? (pp. [iv], 148, [8]), both dated 1674. The double-page frontispiece is a genealogical tree of the Oldenburgh dukes of Schleswig-Holstein, stemming from Christian I of Denmark. SECOND, EXPANDED EDITION, with the first edition of the second part (the Schleswig-Holstein Chronicles).