PICART, Bernard and Abraham MOUBACH (translator).
Naaukeurige beschryving der uitwendige godtsdienst-plichten, kerk-zeden en gewoontens van alle volkeren der waereldt; in een historisch verhaal, met eenige naaukeurige verhandelingen ontvouwen, door verscheiden aanmerkingen opgeheldert en in kunstige tafereelen afgemaalt.
The Hague, Rutgert Christoffel Alberts (vols. 1-3) and Isaac van der Kloot (vols. 3-4); Amsterdam, Hermannus Uytwerf; Rotterdam, Jan Daniel Beman, 1727-1738. 6 volumes (vols. 3, 4 & 6 in 2 parts each) bound as 7. Folio. With an engraved frontispiece, 8 title-pages (6 in red and black, each with one of 3 different engraved vignettes) plus 3 part-titles (with a woodcut decoration), 224 full-page engraved plates, including 1 folding and 38 double-page plates, an engraving on the dedication leaf in vol. 1 and a few engravings in the text. Further with several engraved headpieces, woodcut tailpieces and a few woodcut decorated initials. Contemporary gold tooled mottled calf, with red and black morocco title and volume labels, lettered in gold, each volume with a central lozenge-shaped ornament on both boards, surrounded by two decorative borders, gold tooled board edges, marbled edges.
€ 9,500
First Dutch edition of Picart's famous and richly illustrated work on religious customs, ceremonies and costumes from all over the world. With its six volumes, it is the most sumptuous publication ever on the religions of the world, richly and beautifully illustrated with large (and sometimes double-page or even folding) engraved plates by the French engraver Bernard Picart (1673-1733), who lived in Amsterdam from 1708. The text was compiled from a wide range of sources (including R. Simon, J. Abbadie, Dupin, Thiers, P. le Brun, Boulainvilliers and Reland) and edited by the Amsterdam publisher Jean Frederic Bernard for a French edition titled Ceremonies et coutumes religieuses de tous le peuples du monde, first published in 1723. It was translated into Dutch for the present edition by Abraham Moubach.
The first two volumes discuss the religion of the Jews and Roman Catholics, including a double-page engraving of the interior of the Portuguese synagoge in Amsterdam. The third and fourth volume deal with the religions of the "heathens" in the Americas (including Mexico), India, Ceylon, the Brahmans in India, China, Japan, Africa and the Persians in Iran. The fifth volume concerns the Greek orthodox church and the several groups of Protestants. The last volume describes the Anglicans and smaller groups such as Quakers, Mennonites, Adamites, Freemasons and finally Islam. Altogether the most important 18th-century survey work on the world's religions and their customs, lavishly illustrated with very finely executed plates.
From the library of Frederick H. Rindge (1859-1905). The boards are somewhat rubbed. The works are slightly browned and foxed throughout, with the final leaves of volume 3 affected more than the others. Otherwise in good condition. Alt-Japan-Katalog 1149; STCN 191420778; cf. Cordier, Japonica, col. 435; Lipperheide 1808; Sabin 62600 (all French ed.).
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