A first edition of the Dutch-Latin text issue of 1734-69, this four-volume record of one of the great natural history ‘Cabinets’ of the 18th century contained 449 coloured etched plates – in this instance signed by the colourist J. Fortuyn – and was handsomely bound in Dutch mottled calf gilt. Last seen at auction at Christie’s New York in the summer of 1997, when it sold for $250,000, it was valued at that same level in the catalogue but was knocked down to a British dealer for $525,000 (£351,750) plus premium at 20/15/10 per cent.
Albertus Seba’s Locupletissimi rerum naturalium thesauri...
US: A SCIENTIFIC library formed by New York businessman Joseph A. Frielich was sold by Sotheby’s New York for $10.7m (£7.2m) on January 10-11, 2001, and among many lots that made much higher than predicted sums was a magnificent copy of Albertus Seba’s Locupletissimi rerum naturalium thesauri...
