Beschryving der nieuwlyks uitgevonden en geoctrojeerde slang-brand-spuiten...

Amsterdam: Jan Van Der Heiden, 1735. Folio, original half mottled calf and speckled purple paper over boards, raised bands, gilt spine. [viii], 50, [4] pp., 25 plates (7 double-page and 18 single-page).

Second edition of this important work first published in 1690, with the addition of six plates.

Jan Van Der Heiden (1637–1712) was a fascinating and talented figure, a highly regarded painter of cityscapes and an inventor. He developed the first street-lighting system in Amsterdam, and his contributions to firefighting technology set the standard throughout Europe for two centuries. The present volume “provides the most extensive written account of firefighting tactics during the preindustrial era” (Sutton, Peter. Jan van der Heyden 1637–1712, Yale University Press, 2006 p. 78). The plates, which are not signed, are based on designs by Van Der Heiden, and engraved by various hands. They convey with great power the drama and turmoil of buildings ablaze, as well as the melancholy aftermath. The earliest plates demonstrate the effectiveness of Van Der Heiden’s new pumps, as opposed to the older type also shown in use.

CONDITION: Good, head of spine chipped, rubbed, two old paper-repairs to bottom edge of flyleaf, small chip out of flyleaf, bit of worming at foot of gutter, separation along bottom of fold in one double-page plate just into image, moderate dampstain at lower inside margin of last few leaves or so (no effect on printed area), occasional light spotting; overall a clean, sound and very appealing copy, with wide margins, in its original binding.