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Encyclopaedic description of Jakarta and Java with folding plates

EBERT, Johann Jakob (transl.).
Beschreibung und Geschichte der Hauptstadt in dem Holländischen Ostindien Batavia nebst geographische, politische und physikalische Nachrichten von der Insel Java.
Leipzig, Weidmanns Erben und Reich, 1785-1786. 4 parts in 3 volumes. 8vo. With 6 folding engraved plates: a map of Java, 3 plans of Batavia (Jakarta) and surroundings, and 2 depicting reptiles and birds. Contemporary half calf with raised bands , gold-tooled spine, title-labels and unidentified coat of arms. Marbled sides. [16], 296; [4], 252; [4], 336; [4], 352 pp.
€ 3,750
First edition of the German translation of a description of Batavia on the island of Java in the Dutch East Indies, now Jakarta in Indonesia. It was first published in Dutch as Batavia, de hoofdstad van Neêrlands O. Indien in 1782. The book not only provides a wealth of information on the Dutch colonial capital Batavia, but also describes Javas natural history, geography, climate and tropical diseases (including beriberi) and the trade carried on by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in the East Indies. The information is presented in an encyclopaedic manner, elaborating on each subject in a well-ordered way. The plates in the present German edition based on those in the first Dutch edition. Johann Jakob Ebert (1737-1805) translated this anonymous Dutch work and dedicated it to the Saxon librarian Johann August von Ponickau (1718-1802). Interestingly the appendices of volume 2 that contain juridical documentation are in the original Dutch, pp. 194-214.
Bookplate on front paste-down ("F. William Wickel 1893") and owner's inscription on title-page of each volume. Minor foxing, more on the endpapers. A few minor marginal defects. Otherwise in very good condition. Landwehr, VOC, 500; Tiele, Bibl. 77; Van der Krogt, Advertenties voor kaarten, 1670.
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Asia  >  Cartography & Exploration | Indonesia | Southeast Asia | VOC - Dutch East India Company
Cartography & exploration  >  Asia | Geography, Topography & Views
History, law & philosophy  >  Economics, Numismatics & Trade | VOC & WIC