The rare book on
display from our collection is: Vorstellung der Vögel Deutschlandes und
beyläufig auch eigener Fremden; nach ihren Eigenschaften beschrieben von
Johann Leonhard Frisch, in Kupfer gebracht, und nach ihren natürlichen Farben
dargestellt von Ferdinand Helfreich Frisch. Berlin: Friedr. Wilhelm Birnstiel; 1763.
Balfour Library shelf
mark:
Folio (193).
The book is open at: Plate 1, Buchfink and Distelfink [chaffinch and goldfinch]. These beautifully detailed, hand
coloured, copper engraved plates depict birds that are quite familiar to us so it
is interesting to see how accurate the illustrations are. Brightly coloured pairs
of male and female finches are described as ‘Er’ and ‘Sie’ (he and she). If you
look closely you will see the skilled detail in the engravings and the
individual brushstrokes that colour them.
This work is the first German bird
book with excellent folio colour plates which feature European and exotic
birds, including a number of parrots, drawn from the Frisch family collection
of preserved specimens. There is clever use of a technique to make certain aspects
of a bird “shine”, such as the combs on chickens, and the eyes of all of the
birds consistently appear like this.
Johann
Leonhard Frisch (1666-1743) was a theologian, naturalist, and philologist
specialising in Slavic languages; he taught Leibnitz Russian, and the latter
had him elected to the Berlin Academy of Sciences. He is credited with the
discovery of Prussian blue, and also introducing sericulture to Germany; he
planted mulberry trees around the walls of Berlin from which were produced a
hundred pounds of silk.
The
plates of Vorstellung der Vögel Deutschlandes und beyläufig auch eigener Fremden
were drawn and engraved by the author’s sons Ferdinand Helfreich and Philipp
Jakob; Johann. Christoph, the author’s grandson, executed the final 30 plates,
and also engraved the portrait-frontispiece after a design by B. Rode. The
original drawings are preserved in the Jacob Moyat collection in the
Stadtbibliothek in Mainz.
A
rare book bibliography (Anker) describes how “the birds are divided into 12 classes
and the plates, which contain altogether 307 figures, are accompanied by a
brief text divided according to the classes and sections, the subtitles of
which open with the words ‘Kurtze Nachricht’ or ‘Fortsetzung einer kurtzen
[kurzen] Nachricht’. After the death of J.L. Frisch the publication was
continued by his sons, of whom Just Leopold Frisch prepared the text, assisted,
chiefly at the end, by Baron Friedrich August von Zorn, who also compiled the
comprehensive index”.
Sources:
J.
Haffer. The development of ornithology in central Europe. J Ornithol. (2007)
148 (Suppl 1):S125–S153. DOI 10.1007/s10336-007-0160-2
International
League of Antiquarian Booksellers http://www.ilab.org/index.php
