Ost- und West-Indischer wie auch Sinesischer Lust- und Sats-garten […]. Der Erste Theil […] die edelsten Blumen/ Kräuter […]. Der Ander theil Das temperament der Lufft und Landschaften […]. Der Dritte theil das Sats-Wesen/ Policey-Ordnungen […].

Folio: [40]-1762-[36] pp. (tear in Pl. 41 repaired).

Contemp. overl. vellum, flat spine titled in ink. Excellent copy.

Original edition of this monumental work on the East and West Indies and Asia. The descriptions of natural history are interspersed with ethnographical musings, homeopathic advice on folk medicines and the history of European exploration and expansion, both actual and fabulous. Among its many delights is the extraordinary series of detailed plates, including two views of Batavia showing the harbour packed with junks, packets and exclusively Dutch ships. The 3 books of this vast work treat of the natural history, the customs and the curiosities of the East and West Indies and the Americas, "with many very curious details" (Sabin), as curious as speculations about which animal might triumph in a fight between a tiger and a dragon, the anatomy of mermaids and mermen, or the habits of the flying tortoises of China. Ill.: engr. front., full-p. engr. dedidcation and imperial arms of Leopold I, 63 (of 65) numb. full-p. engr. (missing pl. 7, 48, 55, 58, but with extra pl.s 45xx and 47xx). Half-p. text engr. (p. 106). Woodcut mark on title. Title printed in red and black. Text in Gothic type in 2 col.
Ref. VD17 23:231724G. - Dünnhaupt 1525:15. - Sabin 25463. - Cordier 381 (Japan) & 329 (China). - Nissen (BBI) 648.
Prov. Fedor von Zobeltitz (1857-1934), German author and editor of the Zeitschrift für Bücherfreunde (collector’s ticket).