Beschreibung:

HUYGENS, Constantijn (1596-1687). De Zee-Straet van 'sGraven-Hage op Scheveningen . The Hague: Johannes Tongerloo, 1667.
HUYGENS, Constantijn (1596-1687). De Zee-Straet van 'sGraven-Hage op Scheveningen . The Hague: Johannes Tongerloo, 1667. 4 o ( 225 x 177 mm). Woodcut printer's device on title, and fine large folding etched plate (plate size 297 x 250mm) by Romeyn de Hooghe with a letterpress poem beneath. Contemporary Dutch vellum, gilt cypher added on front cover. Provenance : gilt cypher on front cover (perhaps Ehrenberg); acquired from E.P. Goldschmidt, 1973. FIRST EDITION of Huygens's long poem in praise of the road constructed to link the Hague with Scheveningen, and the town fathers of the Hague who supported it. The poem is illustrated with a fine etched plate by the young Romeyn de Hooghe then a little-known artist, which shows the entrance gate to the road in the Hague, with the road behind leading into the distance towards Sheveningen. The plate comprises DE HOOGHE'S FIRST BOOK ILLUSTRATION, one of his most accomplished large etchings, here in its first state. The poet and statesman (and the scientist's father) had repeatedly urged the town fathers of the Hague to link the two towns by means of a solidly constructed stone road. For various reasons the project was delayed and was only completed while Huygens was away on a diplomatic mission in Paris and without his knowledge--despite it being built according to his designs. Landwher, Romeyn de Hooghe , 1 (with an incorrect collation).