(Muscheln) BORN, Baron Ignaz Edler von. 
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Testacea Musei Caesarei Vindobonensis, quae jussu Mariae Theresiae Augustae disposuit et descripsit Ignatius a Born.- Vienna: Sumptibus Joannis Pauli Kraus, 1780. Large Folio (485 x 295 mm) xxxvi, 442 pp., 9 Bll. incl. half - title, dedication to the Empress Marie - Therese, title-page with engraved vignette by C(arl). Schütz. Illustrated 18 fine hand-colored engraved plates of shells by the engraver Schütz (1745 - 1800) or J. Adam after the artist Franz Fuxeder (1725-1797), four head- and eight tail-pieces, 36 illustra-tions of shells in the text, all engraved by Schütz, C. Conti and others. A few text leaves yellowed. Original Kleisterpapier boards, boards and extremities scuffed, head and foot of spine rubbed and upper spine slightly defective, corners frayed.
A fine uncut copy of this sumptuously printed work portraying shells in the imperial collection in Vienna, from the library of the famous chemist, Antoine Laurent Lavoisier with his Ex Libris, one of the most beautiful of all conchological works including examples from the collection of the Empress of Austria, a collection „of great importance to systematists, as Born described from it a number of species new to science.“ (Dance). The work was commissioned by Empress Marie-Therese to record and codify her natural history collection in Vienna. In 1778 Baron Ignaz Edler von Born published a descriptive catalogue of the collection with one plate; the present work, published two years later is on a much more sumptuous scale and included the fine hand color plates. Further volumes were not published after the death of the Empress, as her heir do not wanted to pay for the printing. The splendid plates show 319 different shells and most of the plates are by Jakob Adam, an Austrian artist (1748-1811). A fine example of the Golden Age of Viennese natural history book production which was patronized by the House of Habsburg. “Eines der schönsten Muschelbücher sind die ‘Testacea Musaei Caesarei Vindobonensis, 1780’ von Ignaz Born mit Grossfoliotafeln ... nach Jak. Adam...” (Nissen II, p. 152). Baron Ignaz Edler von Born was from Karlsburg, Transylvania (now Alba Iulia, Romania), born on the 26th December 1742. Having rejected an education with the Jesuits in Vienna, he studied law in Prague. After graduation, Von Born made an extensive tour throughout Germany, Holland and France. During this period, he was exposed to natural history, including mineralogy and mining. Later he joined the department mines and the mint in Prague in 1770, and mineralogy is the area in which he is now best remembered (DSB II, 315). His death at the relatively early age of 48 was probably hastened by his lively interest in all aspects of the practical side of mining and ore-extraction: „During his visit to a mine at Felso-Banya. He descended into the mine too soon after fires used to detach the ore had been extinguished, and inhaled a dangerously large quantity of arsenical vapors.“ (DSB). His reputation ensured that in 1776 he was called to Vienna by the Empress to arrange and describe the Imperial collection. The works on the shells in the Royal Collection were the only published results of this commission, which was apparently cut short by the Empress’s death in 1780. BM (NH) I, 202; Peter Dance. Shell Collecting. An Illustrated History 1966. pp. 93-94; Nissen ZBI 470. Erste Ausgabe unter diesem Titel und mit den prachtvollen Tafeln mit heimischen und exotischen Muscheln u. Schnecken von C. Schütz nach J. Adam, F. Fuxeder, E Mansfeld und J. F. Wiedon. „Eines der schönsten Muschelbücher“ (Nissen II, 152) Von Born, studierter Mineraloge, wurde 1776 von Maria Theresia nach Wien beordert, um das Naturalienkabinett neu zu ordnen und zu beschreiben. Daraufhin erschien 1778 das Werk erstmals unter dem Titel Index rerum naturalium . Die vorliegende Neuausgabe konnte nicht vollendet werden, da Kaiser Joseph II. nach dem Tod Maria Theresias 1780 keine Mittel für die Fortsetzung zur Verfügung stellte. Großzügiger Druck auf kräftigem Papier. Die Tafeln in schönstem Handkolorit. Sauberes, wohl erhaltenes Exemplar der seltenen Beschreibung.- Provenance: Schloss Weitra (Fürstenberg-Weitra). Conchologie, Conchology, Maria Theresia, Austria, Sammlungskatalog, wunderkammer, shell collection
10000,- EUR
inkl. 7% USt./incl. 7% VAT
Sachgebiete: Ozeanologie, Rokoko, Zoologie
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