[Extremely rare copy on "Médian grand-papier"] Arcadie Hollandaise,

ou collection choisie de six-cent vues pittoresques d'antiquités, ruïnes, châteaux (...) qui font l'ornement, l'éclat et la beauté du Royaume de Hollande (...). Amsterdam, J.S. van Esveldt-Holtrop, 1807 [with letterpress indication "Médian grand-papier" below the address], letterpress title page with on reverse the index "Les XIII. cahiers qui forment cette collection d'Estampes", followed by the following engravings: 300 plates with 2 views each, 2 folding profiles (The Hague and Alkmaar), 2 folding views (both Alkmaar), 9 views of Vlaardingen on 8 folding plates, 1 large folding map of Kennemerland, and 3 full-page plates with a single view each (Oudewater, Alkmaar and Vlaardingen), 3 frontispieces (De Vechtstroom, Het Watergraafs of Diemermeer and Het Zegepralent Kennemerlant), slightly later halfmorocco with gilt, ribbed and blindstamped back, folio.

Occ. sl. tanned/ foxed; two plates with engravings 93-96 in the second part with a slightly smaller size (but still bound along). Tiele 51. Very good copy of this extremely rare collection of 13 individual works, no copies with this French title in PiCarta! (Though it can be found with the Dutch title: Hollandsche Arkadia in zeshonderd en meer afbeeldingen (...)). We traced a copy of this slightly more common Dutch edition on small median paper for sale (€16,000). With on the first blank the following annotation: "1862 gekocht f. 125,- auctie v. Doorn". This information is sufficient for determining that it concerns the auction Van Doorn (The Hague), where the books of Leonard Metman (1808-1860) were sold at auction from 10 March 1862. This copy was no. 1169 in that catalogue (available in digital form). Metman was King's commissioner for the new legislation in the Dutch West Indies and lawyer at the High Council. A second provenance indication on the first blank is: "Gekocht auctie Ledeboer 1891 f.52." [auction catalogue E.J. Brill, Leiden, unfortunately not digitised]. According to the title page, the work mainly contains views of the cities of Amsterdam, Alkmaar, Beverwijk, Leiden, Oudewater, The Hague, Delft, Vlaardingen, Dordrecht, Utrecht and Weesp, views along the rivers Amstel, Rhine, Vecht, Spaarne, and views within Amstelland, Kennemerland, Rijnland and the district of Diemen. These views were printed from the original plates (1730-1770) produced by or after Rademaker, Pronk, De Winter, Stoopendaal, Philips, Van Der Laan, Marot, Punt, Schenk and others.