De natuurlyke historie der insecten.

Haarlem and Amsterdam: C. H. Bohn and H. De Wit [1765-1782]. 4 vols bound in 8 (Without Supplement). Quarto (11" x 8 1/2", 280mm x 215mm). With half-titles and 3 hand-coloured engraved frontisepieces, an engraved portrait of the author in Vol. 7, and 288 leaves of hand-coloured engraved plates throughout. (With 2 or 3 plates per page in some cases and 3 folding). Bound in Contemporary half-calf over speckled paper boards. On the spine, 5 raised bands, black morocco lettering piece. Some repairs to bindings. Boards and extremities rubbed. Uncut. Intermittant marginalia. Bookplate: B. Dierkunde on paper tab on front pastedown. With an 8 page hand-written list of insects inserted in Vol. 1, and a copy of Rösel's portrait. August Johann Rösel von Rosenhof (1705-1759) was a successful German miniature painter, naturalist and entomologist. This is regarded as "one of the most beautiful German works on insects of the period" (Landewehr). This Dutch edition is a translation of Der Monatlich Herausgegebenen Insecten Belustigung, and is considered preferable to the German edition due to its larger size, thicker paper, and superior colouring. Nissen and others date it to 1764-1768. According to Landewehr, since the priviledge leaf in Vol. 1 is dated 27 June 1765 and the portrait is dated 1782, this work is dated [1765-1782]. When Rösel died in 1759, his daughter Katherina Barbara Rösel von Rosenhof and her husband Christian Friedrich Carl Kleemann (1735-1789) continued his work. It was translated into Dutch by Adam Abrahamzoon Moerbeek. Landewehr, Dutch Books with Colored Plates 161; Nissen ZBI 3467.…