Ter afsluiting van het jubileumjaar exposeert Watersnip een aantal vogelprenten met historische beschrijvingen uit de achttiende eeuw. In de tentoonstelling wordt een relatie gelegd met de veranderingen in ons landschap en het waterbeheer van de 21e eeuw.
Tot eind februari is ieder welkom voor een bezoek tijdens kantooruren, waaraan geen kosten verbonden zijn. Een telefoontje op 0182 – 395460 voor het bezoek is aan te raden. Adres: ‘s-Gravenbroekseweg 154, te Reeuwijk.
De expositie is gemaakt in samenwerking met de Groene Hart Archieven te Gouda. Hier bevindt zich een complete en kostbare serie van de eerste boeken over de Nederlandse vogelwereld, uitgegeventussen 1775 en 1829. De initiatiefnemer van dit werk was de predikant-onderzoeker Cornelis Nozeman, die in 1786 in Moordrecht overleed.
Artikel in Kijk op Reeuwijk
Flyer expositie wetlandvogels
Achtergrondinformatie Nozeman en uitgave Nederlandsche vogelen
Untill the end of February you can visit the exposition of wetlandbirds in Reeuwijk. The exposition shows printed collections of the birds from Nozeman’s Nederlandsche vogelen. A superb collection of engravings from an exceedingly rare and highly prized work, Nozeman’s ‘Nederlandsche Vogelen’ 1770-1829.
Cornelius Nozeman, (1721-1786) a Dutch minister of the Remonstrant church and an ornithologist provided the inspiration for this finest Dutch work on ornithology and one of the greatest of all time. It was a unique collaborative effort of two Dutch masters, and a project of huge scope and ambition, taking over 60 years to complete. The renowned engraver & artist, Christiaan Sepp drew the illustrations & Nozeman wrote the text for the first two volumes.
The first volume was published by Sepp’s son, Jan Christiaan, a bookseller with a strong background in natural history & engraving. In 1775, Christiaan Sepp died & Jan Christiaan completed the second volume. In 1786 Nozeman died, with most of the descriptions for the second volume written (published in 1789). Thus, it was the first two volumes which were directly created by these renowned ornithologists, artists & engravers.
Martinus Houttuyn continued the work for the third volume (published in 1797). Houttuyn died in 1798, and it was not until 1809 that the fourth volume was published, without the name of the writer. Interestingly enough, the whole venture was completed in 1829 by Jan Sepp, the son of Jan Christiaan with assistance from Coenraad Jacob Temminck. Thus, three generations of the illustrious Sepp family were involved in this project of six decades, a truly remarkable feat.
These super-sized, hand coloured copper plate engravings, superbly composed and meticulously engraved and hand colored were an expensive proposition indeed. Upon the final publication, it was the costliest book ever published, selling for 525 Dutch Florins in 1829 or over $6,000 in today’s currency, a great sum at that time let alone now.
Reference: National Library of the Netherlands website