Presentation copy on large paper of the first and only edition of a topographical and historical description of Den Briel on the island of Voorne, illustrated with large, folding maps. The present copy has been bound by the so-called Stag Bindery (active 1693-1743/1758), the most important bindery in Rotterdam in the 18th century. Several other copies of the work with identical bindings are known. According to Storm van Leeuwen they were commissioned by the publisher and "are undoubtedly presentation copies for members of the Den Briel magistracy or persons connected with them."
The work was compiled by the antiquaries Cornelis van Alkemade (1654-1737) and his son-in-law Pieter van der Schelling (1691-1751), and presents the results of their extensive research into Den Briel, the first town captured by the Dutch during the Eighty Years' War in 1572. It includes a detailed historical and geographical account of the town and the development of the polders on the island of Voorne, together with the history of the noble families who governed the region. The second part comprises a collection of privileges and charters, together with the first printed edition of Jan Matthijsen's Rechtsboek of Den Briel. Probably written between 1400 and 1423, it is one of the earliest and most important sources for the study of Dutch procedural law.
The work is illustrated with a double-page engraved plan of Den Briel after Frans van Bleyswyck (1671-1746), and 3 large folding engraved maps of different parts of Voorne by Jan Luyken (1649-1712) and Jan Stemmers after A. Steyvaart, all finely decorated with coats of arms and elaborate cartouches. The fourth map, depicting the southwestern part of the province of South Holland, is found in the second part. It is not commonly a part of the work, but is a later addition, published by Tirion in Amsterdam in 1748.
Van Alkemade, originally trained as a lawyer and later active as a notary, devoted much of his life to historical and antiquarian research, transcribing numerous archival sources that formed the basis of his publications. His son-in-law Van der Schelling, a Remonstrant minister who later turned to legal scholarship, became his principal collaborator, editing and annotating much of Alkemade's material and completing several of his projects after his death.
With the bookplate of Jan Willem Six van Vromade (1872-1936) mounted on the front pastedown, the stamp of H. D. Pfann (dates unknown) below, and remnants of a paper label at the foot. The edges and corners of the boards are scuffed, the joints are cracked, but the structural integrity of the binding is still intact, a tear at the head of the spine, lacking the headband. The end paper have been replaced, leaves are slightly browned and foxed, a brown stain in the lower margin first 60 pages of part 2. Otherwise a large paper copy in good condition. Donkersloot-de Vrij 247; Van Eeghen Collectie 47; Van Eeghen & V.d. Kellen 473; Nijhoff & V. Hattum 2; STCN 20446403X; cf. Storm van Leeuwen, Dutch decorated bookbinding in the 18th century, vol. IIa, pp. 432-446 (for the binding).