Icones Insectorum Ratisbonensium Methodo Systematica Illustratae et Indice Systematico Auctae. Vol. I-III [and] Iconum Insectorum circa Ratisbonam Indigenorum Enumeratio Systematica Opera et Studio

Description:

Editio Nova, the second edition of J.C. Schaeffer’s Icones Insectorum circa Ratisbonam (1766-1779), here accompanied by G.W.F. Panzer’s supplementary volume, which provides a detailed systematic analysis of the plates. The text is in both Latin and German.

Jacob Christian Schaeffer (1718-1790) was a distinguished German naturalist whose extensive studies encompassed the flora and fauna of southern Germany, with particular emphasis on fungi, insects and birds. A professor at Regensburg and a Protestant pastor, Schaeffer successfully combined his ecclesiastical and academic responsibilities with an enduring passion for natural history. His extensive correspondence included leading European naturalists such as Carl Linnaeus, reflecting his considerable standing within the scientific community of his time.

The work is particularly notable for its 280 finely detailed, delicately hand-coloured engraved plates, based on original drawings by Stephan Loibel (c.1725-1775) and H. Fische. Loibel was a Regensburg Bildermahler - a specialist picture painter whose work included highly detailed natural-history illustrations. Loibel and Fische’s depictions record more than 2,000 insects from the region surrounding Regensburg in southern Germany.

The plates were engraved by a distinguished circle of craftsmen associated with Schaeffer, including Johann Nepomuk Maag (c.1724-1800), Gustav Philipp Trautner (1739-1812), and Johann Gottlieb Fridrich (1742/43-1809) and others. Their finely executed copperplate work translated the original drawings into the detailed printed plates, which were subsequently brought to life through delicate hand-colouring.

This edition is significant not only for its remarkable documentation of the insect fauna of the Regensburg region, but also for Panzer’s important scholarly contribution. Combining meticulous observation, systematic classification, copperplate engraving and hand-colouring, the work stands as an exceptional example of the close relationship between science, art and book production in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

Nissen ZBI, 3629; Horn-Schenkling, 19050, 16731.

Condition

4 vols, 4to, 19th century half morocco, some rubbing to corners and joints, raised bands and dec. gilt rules to spines, teg, marbled endpapers; a few finger marks to the cloth boards. Occasional spotting and browning, with foxing to endpapers. A very good set.