BOSCH, Lambert van den.
Het leven en bedryf van Willem de Darde. Koning van Groot-Brittannie, Vrankryk en Yrlant &c. &c. Prince van Orangie &c. &c. &c. Sijn geboorte, jongelingschap, erf-stadthouderschap en koninglyke waardigheyd. Onder wiens heerschappy en bestieringe werden verhandelt, saken van staat en oorlog van den jare 1650. tot het uytgaen van 1693.
Amsterdam, Jan ten Hoorn, 1694. 4 parts in 2 volumes. 4to. With an engraved frontispiece by Caspar Luyken, a folding engraved map of the battle of Landenon on 29 July 1693, and 12 folding engraved plates (of which 6 by Jan Luyken, 1 by Caspar Luyken, and 4 by Daniel de la Feuille after Jan Luyken). Contemporary gold-tooled mottled calf, sewn on 5 supports with the corresponding raised bands on the spine, a brown morocco title label on the spine, lettered in gold, and the volume number lettered in gold below, the coat of arms of Aron de Joseph de Pinto in the centre of both boards in a triple fillet frame, and his monogram (the crowned initials AJDP) in 4 of the 6 compartments on the spine, gold-tooled board edges, blue edges, marbled end papers. [8], 432; 442, [6]; [2], 180; 528, [8] pp.
€ 2,500
First and only edition of this biography of the illustrious stadholder and king William III and his wife Maria Stuart, by Lambert van den Bosch (1620-1698), the former head of the Latin school at Dordrecht, who published this work with his Latin initials "L.S.", standing for Lambertus Sylvus. The plates, mostly made by Jan and Caspar Luyken, depict several important episodes in the life of William III, such as the siege of Grave in 1674, the departure of William and his fleet to England in 1688, his coronation in London in 1689, and several other battles and conquests. Some of the Luyken plates were re-used in the biography of William III by Arnoldud Montanus, which was also published by Jan ten Hoorn in Amsterdam in 1703.
The present copy has been beautifully bound by the "Fleur-de-Lis bindery" (or "Heraldische Lelie-binderij", 1735-1740) in The Hague, for the wealthy Amsterdam merchant Aron de Joseph de Pinto (1710-1758). De Pinto was of Jewish-Portuguese descent and a well-known book collector. He had his books bound mainly by two binders, one in Amsterdam (1743-65) and one in the Hague. His crowned coat of arms with 5 crescent moons is the centrepiece of both boards, his crowned monogram is present over 4 compartments on the spine of each volume.
The edges and corners of the boards are somewhat scuffed, the spine of the second volume is partly detached. Some of the leaves are lightly foxed, a cancel slip has been pasted to page 180 in the second volume, stating that it is the end of part 3. Otherwise in good condition. Van Eeghen-van der Kellen 253; Klaversma & Hannema 1387 and 1388; STCN 850597315; USTC 1838585; cf. on the binding: Storm van Leeuwen, De 18e-eeuwse Haagse boekband, p. 76-79; p. 398, stamps XV, 36 a/b; Storm van Leeuwen, Dutch decorated bookbinding in the eighteenth century (2006), vol. IIA, p. 111-12, and vol. III, p. 645 (top left), 717.
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