SOLD: Joris Hoefnagel's Magnum Opus of Natural History: Complete with 52 Copperplates

Hoefnagel, Joris. Archetypa studiaque patris Georgii Hoefnagelii Jacobus F. genio duce ab ipso scalpta, omnibus philomusis amicé D: ac perbenigné communicat. 4 parts in 1 volume. Frankfurt am Main (15)92. Complete with 4 engraved title pages and 48 engraved copper plates after Joris Hoefnagel. Oblong quarto (162/166 x 220 mm). Modern vellum binding (vellum from a missal manuscript of the 15th century)

Joris Hoefnagel stood on the one hand in the tradition of the Flemish illuminators of the first half of the 16th century, on the other hand he was under the spell of modern natural science. In his encyclopaedic miniature work for Emperor Rudolf II, he depicted well over 1000 animal species for their own sake. Hoefnagel’s son Jakob engraved a large selection of these, especially of minutely rendered insects, in copper, which he published in 1592 in the four instalments of the »Archetypa studiaque…« at Frankfurt - a counterpart also to the ›large animals‹ of Johannes Stradanus (see lot 64 in our catalogue 90). This beautifully preserved first edition copy is of the utmost rarity, especially as it is entirely complete.

“The dissemination of engraved reproductions of Joris Hoefnagel's designs for flora and fauna spread his fame. Although the Archetypa appealed to plant and animal enthusiasts, it served predominantly as a series of models for other artists. Besides providing examples of flora and fauna, each sheet, with its mottoes, had an emblematic function. Joris Hoefnagel was a skilled rhetorician and coupled his designs with maxims, many from classical literature” (Susan Dackerman, Painted Prints, 2003, nº 48).

Literature: Blunt 79f.; BM STC 408; Brunet III, 244; Darmstaedter, Handbuch 101; Garrison 230; Graesse III, 313; Hagen I, 371; Neufforge 417; Nissen, ZBI 1954; Katalog der Ornamentstichsammlung Berlin 4409; cf. Tenschert XLIII, 62-71; Thieme/Becker 17, 195; VD 16 H 4035; Vignau-Wilberg 1994; Vignau-Wilberg 2017, G 11 a-k.

This book has been described in great detail in our catalogue 90 “Wunderkammer”, lot 69, available in our Online Shop.

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