Description
Pieter Cramer (1721-1776) was a Dutch merchant of Spanish wool and linen and an entomologist who amassed an exhaustive collection of butterflies and moths. He began a project of editing a comprehensive illustrated publication focused on species from around the world, initially consisting of four volumes that included 400 drawings and descriptions in French and German of each insect. The painter Gerrit Wartenaar Lamberts was commissioned to paint the butterflies in Cramer’s collection, and later, specimens belonging to other collectors. In all, Lambertz depicted over 1,650 species of butterflies in top and bottom views at life size. Throughout the book, the other collectors are credited, including Pieter Boddaert, Houttuin, P. Luchtmans, Prince Willem and Baron van Rengers. Cramer died before the first volume was completed, but his nephew Anthony van Rensselaer and the entomologist Caspar Stoll, a member of the Scientific Society of The Hague, completed the project, which ultimately was delivered to subscribers in 33 parts between 1775 and 1782.
Condition: Generally very good with the usual overall light toning, wear, handling.
References:
Garcia, Olga Vega. “120 Aniversario BNCJM – Tesoros. Las Exóticas mariposas de Pieter Cramer y Caspar Stoll.” Biblioteca Nacional de Cuba José Marti. 29 November 2020. http://www.bnjm.cu/noticias/2331/120-aniversario-bncjm-tesoros-las-exoticas-mariposas-de-pieter-cramer-y-caspar-stoll (22 April 2021).
Landwehr, J. Studies in Dutch Books with Coloured Plates, 1662-1875. The Hague: 1976. 53.
Nissen, Claus. Die Zoologische Buchillustration: ihre Bibliographie undGeschichte. Stuttgart:1969-78. 985.
