Seba Reptile & Bird Studies
Dutch: 18th Century

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Turtles, Tab. LXXIX

Turtles, Tab. LXXIX

 Flamingo and Other Birds, Tab. LXVII

Flamingo and Other Birds, Tab. LXVII
Seba Pythons and Birds

[Pythons, Scarlet Ibis and Shama], Plate LXII
Above, with details below.

Seba Pythons and Birds Seba Pythons and Birds Seba Pythons and Birds
Albertus Seba (1665-1736) (editor)
P. Tanje, A. van der Laan, F. de Bakker, et al. (engravers)
Flamingo and Other Birds, Tab. LXVII
Turtles, Tab. LXXIX
[Pythons, Scarlet Ibis and Shama], Plate LXII
from Locupletissimi rerum naturalium thesauri accurata descriptio, et iconibus artificiosissimis expressio, per universam physices historiam
J. Wetsten, William Smith, Jansson-Waesberg et al, Amsterdam: 1734-1769
Hand-colored engravings
Verticals: 16.5 x 10.25 inches, image; 21 x 14 inches, overall
Horizontal: 17 x 21.75 inches, plate mark; 19.5 x 23.25 inches, overall
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Prints of birds and reptiles of tropical regions from the premiere 18th-century collector's cabinet of natural history, assembled by Albertus Seba. They include a natural history study of a standing flamingo, a close-up of its head, and three other birds; three pairs of turtles showing top and underside views and one pair of interior and exterior views of eggs; and a pair of pythons in aggressive stances, artistically arranged in looping curves against a simple landscape backdrop along with a scarlet ibis picking up a worm in its beak and a bird called a shama. The larger of the snakes is Python Regius, commonly known as the Ball Python or Royal Python. The smaller snake may be a color mutation of Python Regius or may represent some other python. The forms and patterns of the snakes are faithfully rendered, despite the unnatural poses.

Seba, a wealthy Dutch apothecary and member of the Dutch East India Company, was one of the prototypical collectors of natural curiosities and exotic species.  His collection ranged from the beautiful to the odd and bizarre.  It included birds, reptiles such as lizards and snakes, butterflies and other insects, shells and exotic sea life, unusual mammals such as bats and anteaters, as well as exotic plants.  The collection also included some fakes, intended to attract attention and interest, such as a seven-headed hydra. 

Seba’s first collection was sold to Peter the Great in 1716 and became part of his Kunstkammer or Kunstkamera in St. Petersburg, a museum of rare natural history specimens.  Seba’s second collection was illustrated and described in a set of engraved-plate volumes.  Seba recruited artists, including Pierre Tanje, a Dutch engraver, to illustrate his thesaurus of animals.  The plates are characterized by artistic arrangements of specimens, sometimes apocryphal in color or form.  Some specimens are arranged by species, while other prints including bizarre juxtapositions of seemingly unrelated animals and plants.  Seba wrote most of the text for the first two volumes that accompanied the engravings.  Among his collaborators were many of the most noted scientists of the day, including H. Boerhaave, P. van Musschenbroek, P. Massuet, H. D. Graubius, and P. Artedi.  After Seba’s death in 1736, shortly after publication had commenced, the second collection was auctioned to finance the continued publication of the catalogue.  Actual specimens from Seba's cabinet of curiosities are still in collections in St. Petersburg, and in natural history museums around the world.

References:

Anker, Jean.  Bird Books and Bird Art. 1938.  New York : Martino, 1990.  454.

Balis, Jan. Merveilleux plumages. Dix siècles de livres d'oiseaux.  Brussels: Bibliothèque Royale Albert Ier, 1969.  43.

Bénézit, E. Dictionnaire critique et documentaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs et Graveurs.  France: Librairie Gründ, 1966.  Vol 8, p. 220 (Tanje).

Drimmeln, Wim van, Ad Leerintveld and T. Vermeulen.  Honderd hoogtepunten uit de Koninklijke Bibliotheek/ A Hundred Highlights from the Koninklijke Bibliotheek.  Zwolle: Waanders Uitgevers, 1994.  63.

Landwehr, J. Studies in Dutch Books with Coloured Plates, 1662-1875.  The Hague: 1976. 179.

The Magnificent Botanical Library of the Stiftung fur Botanik, Vaduz Liechtenstein Collected by the late Arpad Plesch.  London: Sotheby & Co., 1975. 862.

Nissen, Claus. Die Botanische Buchillustration: ihre Geschichte und Bibliographie. Stuttgart:1951-66.  1825.

Nissen, Claus. Die Zoologische Buchillustration: ihre Bibliographie und Geschichte. Stuttgart:1969-78.  3793.

Sitwell, Sacheverell. Fine Bird Books, 1700-1900. New York: The Atlantic Monthly Press, 1990. 106.

Wood, Casey A. (ed.)  An Introduction to the Literature of Vertebrate Zoology Based Chiefly on the Titles in the Blacker Library of Zoology, the Emma Shearer Wood Library of Ornithology, the Bibliotheca Osleriana, and Other Libraries of McGill University, Montreal.  London: Humphry Milford, Oxford University Press, 1931.  560.