[JONG, Dirk de].
De walvischvangst, met veele byzonderheden daartoe betrekkelyk.
Including: Beschryving der haringvisschery.
Amsterdam, Petrus Conradi, and Harlingen, Volkert van der Plaats, 1784-1786. 4 parts bound as 1. 4to. With 6 folding engraved maps and 2 folding engraved plates by H. Kobell and M. Sallieth, 3 additional folding and 10 full-page engraved plates. Every title page features a small woodcut illustration, and several woodcut tailpieces throughout. Contemporary half marbled calf and marbled paper sides. VII, [1], 96; [4], 116; [4], 116; [4], 116 pp.
€ 4,500
First edition of a comprehensive survey of Dutch whaling, with the 4th part concluding with an article on herring fishing (Waarby eene beschryving der haringvisschery, pp. 91-114), which was also published separately in 1786. The anonymous authors provide a detailed history of Dutch whaling, covering Jacob van Heemskerck (1567-1607) and Willem Barentsz (1550-1597) and their winter encampment on Nova Zembla, hunting grounds, the expansion of the hunt to Jan Mayen and the Davis Strait, local populations, hunting techniques, and the types of whales, birds, and fishes encountered in the Arctic. Various whaling expeditions are described in detail.
The present work is richly illustrated, including 6 folding engraved maps of the North Pole, Spitsbergen, Nova Zembla, Jan Mayen, Greenland, and Iceland. There are 2 folding engraved plates by Hendrik Kobell (1751-1779) and Mathias de Sallieth (1749-1791), depicting a whaling scene and the herring fleet at sea, 3 further folding plates, and ten full-page engraved plates. Full-page illustrations depict an attack by a polar bear, a camp at Nova Zembla, Icelandic and Lapland inhabitants, a sleigh ride, a Samoyed couple, a kayak, and zoological studies of whales (including the so-called sea unicorn and sperm whale) and birds.
With the initials "BZ" in black ink on the recto of the first flyleaf. Part 2: the upper margin of p. 5 is reinforced, pp. 81-82 shows a tear. Part 3: plate between pp. 60-61 has a tear. Part 4: pp. 41-42 has a tear. Some minor staining and browning throughout. Otherwise in good condition. Allen, p. 474, no. 384; Atlas van Stolk 4341; Cat. NHSM, p. 900; De Groot & Vorstman nos. 179-180; Ingalls, Whaling prints in the Lothrop Collection nos. 33-5; Kendall Whaling Museum Prints, p. 31, no. 93; Muller, Historieplaten, vol. IV, 5107; STCN 29889985X (8 copies, incl. 2 incomplete); cf. Tiele 104 (1791 edition).
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