Beschrijving
Berlin/Stettin, Joachim Pauli, 1774-1793, 8vo., full marbled paper bindings with goldtooling and title plate on spine, green coloured edges, incomplete set, 7 volumes (of 11): 1 (42+764 pp.), 2 (32+690 pp.), 4 (24+702 pp.) , 7 (12+758 pp.), 8 ([6]+832 pp.), 10 (6+840 pp.) and 11 ([6]+799 pp.), there is some wear and tear along the edges of the bindings with faded and rubbed spots and most of the cornes show exposed boards. The construction of the books are very solid. There is some sign of foxing but overall the book blocks are in very good condition. Volume 11 has some unopened pages. The books are filled with lovely and detailed engravings, outside of the collation. Each volume has an overview of the illustrations, and all are present. Volume 1 seems to have four extra illustrations (depicting monkeys) that were not listed. Most illustrations are full page illustrations, but there are also some fold out ones (especially in volume 11).
On the inside of the front covers, remnants of blue paper are visible. Perhaps an ex libris of a former owner that was removed? On the verso side of the flyleaf of each volume there is an ownership note in ink: ‘125, E.F. August (?), 1823’. There is also a library stamp on the titelpages (Coeln. Real. Gymnasium).
This series was an ambitious project to publish a complete alphabetical index of natural history. Only 11 volumes were published, covering A through Coq.
