TULIP ALBUM -- A manuscript flower album containing 53 drawings of tulips in watercolour. [English (or Dutch?), 17th century]. 2° (310 x 190mm). 53 watercolours on paper, some heightened in white and some flowerheads varnished with egg-white, the first 14 tulips drawn directly into the album, the remaining drawings pasted in, 38 blank leaves, 1 leaf with tulip drawing in ink. Foliated in a later hand (some ommissions), names in English on fos. 16-26, 29, 34a, 36-37, 39-40, 42-47 and others in Dutch. (Occasional light soiling, one drawing browned.) 17th-century calf (worn, front cover detached, a few quires loose). Provenance : "May 11 1666 in this book is ... and tulpes drawne to the life" (inscription on fo.16); Joseph Johnson (bookseller and publisher, signature 1794); Hannibal Jones (signature 1812); Doctor Turton (pencilled signature); Hertzberger, Amsterdam (sold 2 June 1953, lot 235, possibly to:); J.M.C. Hoog, Haarlem. A rare record of tulipomania in England in the mid-17th century. The album was clearly compiled in England or sent to England at an early date. An inscription in English dated 1666 states that the tulips were "drawn to life", and half the tulips have English names written in an English hand. The tulip was introduced into England about 1578 and quickly became popular; Dutch tulip books were translated into English, and in 1629 Parkinson's Paradisus (1629) discussed the tulip at length. Tulipomania particularly gripped Holland at the beginning of the 17th-century, leading to frenzied trading and speculation. At its height a single bulb of the immensely sought-after and rare Semper Augustus could fetch thousands of florins; in 1624 only 12 bulbs of it were thought to exist. It is depicted here, labelled The Cardinall . The tulip trade reached across Europe, and the present album, with some tulips identified in English and others in Dutch, bears witness to the active trade in tulips between Holland and England. Some of the drawings appear to be Dutch. Since many of them are pasted into the album, they may have been executed in Holland and sent to England. Albums of tulip drawings were used by tulip salesmen to market their wares, and while Dutch tulip albums are not uncommon, TULIP ALBUMS FOR THE ENGLISH MARKET ARE OF CONSIDERABLY GREATER RARITY.
TULIP ALBUM -- A manuscript flower album containing 53 drawings of tulips in watercolour. [English (or Dutch?), 17th century]. 2° (310 x 190mm). 53 watercolours on paper, some heightened in white and some flowerheads varnished with egg-white, the first 14 tulips drawn directly into the album, the remaining drawings pasted in, 38 blank leaves, 1 leaf with tulip drawing in ink. Foliated in a later hand (some ommissions), names in English on fos. 16-26, 29, 34a, 36-37, 39-40, 42-47 and others in Dutch. (Occasional light soiling, one drawing browned.) 17th-century calf (worn, front cover detached, a few quires loose). Provenance : "May 11 1666 in this book is ... and tulpes drawne to the life" (inscription on fo.16); Joseph Johnson (bookseller and publisher, signature 1794); Hannibal Jones (signature 1812); Doctor Turton (pencilled signature); Hertzberger, Amsterdam (sold 2 June 1953, lot 235, possibly to:); J.M.C. Hoog, Haarlem. A rare record of tulipomania in England in the mid-17th century. The album was clearly compiled in England or sent to England at an early date. An inscription in English dated 1666 states that the tulips were "drawn to life", and half the tulips have English names written in an English hand. The tulip was introduced into England about 1578 and quickly became popular; Dutch tulip books were translated into English, and in 1629 Parkinson's Paradisus (1629) discussed the tulip at length. Tulipomania particularly gripped Holland at the beginning of the 17th-century, leading to frenzied trading and speculation. At its height a single bulb of the immensely sought-after and rare Semper Augustus could fetch thousands of florins; in 1624 only 12 bulbs of it were thought to exist. It is depicted here, labelled The Cardinall . The tulip trade reached across Europe, and the present album, with some tulips identified in English and others in Dutch, bears witness to the active trade in tulips between Holland and England. Some of the drawings appear to be Dutch. Since many of them are pasted into the album, they may have been executed in Holland and sent to England. Albums of tulip drawings were used by tulip salesmen to market their wares, and while Dutch tulip albums are not uncommon, TULIP ALBUMS FOR THE ENGLISH MARKET ARE OF CONSIDERABLY GREATER RARITY.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
