Visscher, Nicolaes (1560-1618); after Collaert, Adriaen (1560-1618) – Avium vivae et artificiosissimae delineationes. Amsterdam, 1659. Oblong-4to. (19,5 x 31,2 cm). 24 engravings (including title) Disbound.

The present collection comes from the first and only edition of Claes Janszoon Visscher’s rare set of ornithological prints, drawn from Adriaen Collaert’s celebrated „Avium vivae icones“. This series was published in the late 16th-century, and is one of Adriaen Collaert’s (c. 1560 – 1618) finest works and one of the masterpieces of early ornithological engraving. The engravings attentively depict a great diversity of birds shown in their natural settings. A set of these images was issued by C. J. Visscher (1587 – 1652) in 1625, with 18 prints appearing under the original title and credited to A. Collaert. Nicolaes I Visscher (1618 – 1679), C. J. Visscher’s son and successor, has freely copied 23 of Collaert’s images with over 100 bird figures, in the same fine detail and exquisite engraving of the earlier edition. It often shows the birds set in a more naturalistic habitat, while also adding a new engraved title with a image of a birds market, where both dead and alive birds are sold.

Very good wide-margined copy.

STCN 38591878X; Nissen 962; Wood, p. 614 („curious and very rare“).

verkauft/sold