AUTHOR: Knorr, Georg Wolfgang (1705-1761) TITLE: Deliciae naturae selectae; oder, Auserlesenes Naturaliencabinet, welches aus den drey Reichen der Natur zeiget, was von curiosen Liebhabern aufbehalten und gesammlet zu werden verdienet. Ehemahls hersg. von Georg Wolfgang Knorr... fortgesezet von dessen Erben, beschrieben von Philipp Ludwig Statius Muller... und in das Französiche übersetzet von Matthaus Verdier de la Blaquiere... IMPRINT: Nürnberg: [Heirs of G. W. Knorr], 1766-1767 [i.e. 1768] COLLATION: 2 v.: 91 col. plates (1 fold.); 57 cm. HOLDINGS: Have complete. NOTES: Added t.-p., engraved, dated 1754. Added t.-p. (printed) in French. Text in German and French. “Verzeichniss derer Schriftsteller, welche man bey verfertigung des Textes Mehrentheils zu Rathe gezogen:” v. 1, 8 p. preceding p. i. Dedicatory epistle and some plates dated 1768. Plates in vol. I. have col. engr. t.p. dated 1754. “First edition of one of the most sumptuously illustrated German natural history books. Georg Wolfgang Knorr was a Nuremberg engraver, art dealer, and scientist. He published some of the most beautiful natural history work to appear in the south of Germany. In the 18th century Nuremberg became the center for producing superbly illustrated natural history books. This was principally due to the stimulus of Dr. Trew, a wealthy Nuremberg physician who assembled a number of young artists and scientists around him, such as Ehret, the most gifted botanical artist of the second half of the 18th century. Dr. Trew owned a large collection of natural history specimens, and his ‘Wunderkammer’ was admired by numerous foreign visitors. Most of the natural history specimens depicted in the present book derive from his collection as is mentioned at the bottom of each plate. The splendidly engraved and handcoloured plates depict mineralogical and zoological matter as follows: corals 15 plates; shells 7; butterflies 6; urchins 4; minerals 6; crustacea & spiders 7; starfishes 4; fishes 9; birds 7; quadrupeds 14; reptiles & amphibians 12. The animals and minerals are very well arranged on each plate and often cover the plate fully. The text is in German and French.” — Antiquariaat Junk catalogue no. 270 REFERENCES: Nissen Zoological Buchillustration, 2227. KEYWORDS: 1. Natural history. I. Müller, Philipp Ludwig Statius (1725-1776) II. Verdier de La Blaquiere, Mathieu (d. 1769) LOCATION: ffQH41.K72 1766