A rare first and only edition of this finely illustrated funeral publication, published on the occasion of the solemn obsequies of Maria Louisa of Hesse-Kassel (1688-1765), Princess Consort of Orange as the wife of Johan Willem Friso (1687-1711). She served as regent during two important periods in Dutch history, governing on behalf of her son William IV (1711-1751) and later her grandson William V (1748-1806).
The publication offers a detailed visual record of the elaborate state funeral held at Leeuwarden in June 1765, in which court officials, military contingents, civic representatives, and members of the nobility participated in a carefully ordered procession that emphasised rank, hierarchy, and dynastic continuity. Such ceremonial prints functioned both as commemorative objects and as instruments of public representation, reinforcing the status of the House of Orange-Nassau within the political culture of the Republic.
The engravings are by Rienk Jelgerhuis (1729-1806), a prolific Dutch painter and draughtsman renowned particularly for his portraiture and precise observational skill, here applied to the structured depiction of ceremonial pageantry. The work was published by Abraham Ferwerda (1716-1783), bookseller and printer at Leeuwarden, an important figure in Frisian print culture and the founder of the Leeuwarder courant (1752), one of the earliest and longest-running newspapers in the Netherlands.
The present copy comes from the library of Ferdinand Caspar Koch (1873-1957), who assembled a collection of early travellers diaries, topographical works, and books on uniforms and other military subjects.
With the bookplate and label of "Mr. F.C. Koch Rotterdam" mounted on the front pastedown. The boards are somewhat worn, the leather along the front joint is split, the leather of the lower inner corner of the front board is torn off, but is included separately, the leather on the bottom edge of the back board has been reinforced. The work is very slightly foxed, with occasional finger soiling. Otherwise in good condition. Landwehr, Splendid ceremonies 235; Muller II, 4160; STCN 157102602 (5 copies); WorldCat 81530279, 68886850 (7 copies).