Special Offers see all
More at Powell'sRecently Viewed clear list
Guests | June 13, 2013
0 comments
|
On Order
$69.99
New Hardcover
Currently out of stock.
Cabinet of Natural Curiosities: The Complete Plates in Colour, 1734-1763by Albertus Seba
Staff Pick
Taschen has always published heavy, lush art books, but they've outdone themselves with Cabinet of Natural Curiosities (weighing in at thirteen pounds). Albertus Seba, a pharmacist in eighteenth-century Amsterdam, collected beautiful and strange animals, plants, and insects. After years of collecting, he commissioned illustrators for each specimen. This book is a reproduction of the eighteenth-century four-volume set. These amazing illustrations are works of art, but beware — small children might be frightened by some of the more fanciful renderings of dragons and beasts.
Taschen has always published heavy, lush art books, but they've outdone themselves with Cabinet of Natural Curiosities (weighing in at thirteen pounds). Albertus Seba, a pharmacist in eighteenth-century Amsterdam, collected beautiful and strange animals, plants, and insects. After years of collecting, he commissioned illustrators for each specimen. This book is a reproduction of the eighteenth-century four-volume set. These amazing illustrations are works of art, but beware — small children might be frightened by some of the more fanciful renderings of dragons and beasts. Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:Albertus Seba's curious creatures: a most unusual collection of natural specimens Albertus Seba's Cabinet of Natural Curiosities is one of the 18th century's greatest natural history achievements and remains one of the most prized natural history books of all time.Though it was common for men of his profession to collect natural specimens for research purposes, Amsterdambased pharmacist Albertus Seba (1665?1736) had a passion that led him far beyond the call of duty. His amazing, unprecedented collection of animals, plants and insects from all around the world gained international fame during his lifetime. In 1731, after decades of collecting, Seba commissioned illustrations of each and every specimen and arranged the publication of a four-volume catalog detailing his entire collection?from strange and exotic plants to snakes, frogs, crocodiles, shellfish, corals, insects, butterflies and more, as well as fantastic beasts, such as a hydra and a dragon. Seba's scenic illustrations, often mixing plants and animals in a single plate, were unusual even for the time. Many of the stranger and more peculiar creatures from Seba's collection, some of which are now extinct, were as curious to those in Seba's day as they are to us now. This reproduction is taken from a rare, hand-colored original. The introduction offers background information about the fascinating tradition of the cabinet of curiosities to which Seba's curiosities belonged. What Our Readers Are SayingAdd a comment for a chance to win!Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
Product Details
Other books you might likeRelated Subjects
Arts and Entertainment » Art » Artists
|
|||||||||
|
|
||||||||||
|
Follow us on...
|
||||||||||
