SCHRÖTER, Johann Samuel (1735-1808)

Musei Gottwaldiani Testaceorum, Stellarum Marinarum et Coralliorum quae Supersunt Tablulae. Die Conchylien, Seesterne und Meergewächseder der Ehemalingen Gottwaldtischen Naturaliensammlung

Nuremberg: auf kosten der Raspichen Buchhandlung, 1782. Folio. (15 1/2 x 9 7/16 inches). 64 pp. Engraved allegorical vignette on title, engraved portraits of Christoph and Johann Christoph Gottwald, 49 engraved plates of shells, starfish, and coral, engraved tailpiece.

Contemporary German gray marbled boards, spine with gilt paper label and gilt in compartments, red edges.

Provenance: Dr. J. M. W. Baumanni (emblematic bookplate)

The catalogue of celebrated Gottwald cabinet.

First edition of a fine illustrated catalogue of the shell collection from the famous cabinet of the Danzig physician Christoph Gottwald (1636-1700). Gottwald's collection of natural history objects, one of the largest in Germany, was continued after his death in 1700 by his son Johann Christoph. After his death the collection was catalogued and put up for sale: Peter the Great bought it in its entirety for one thousand rubles, during the same tour in which he acquired the Ruysch and Seba cabinets. Gottwald had planned to publish an illustrated catalogue of his collection at the time of his death, and had plates engraved after his own drawings. The copper plates of the shell section were acquired by the Nuremberg bookseller Raspe almost a century after they had been engraved, and Schröter was commissioned to write 'a brief text and had the satisfaction of seeing his name on the title page of a book that may otherwise never have been published which would have been a loss for the plates are very fine' (Dance p. 3).

S. Peter Dance, "Delights for the Eyes and the Mind: A Brief Survey of Conchological Books"; Nissen ZBI 3758.

Item #40805

Price: $12,000.00