WILLINK,D. Daniël Willinks Amsterdamsche Tempe, of de Nieuwe Plantagie. Begrepen in twee boeken. Nevens den Amstelstroom. Met kopere platen. De tweede druk. Amsterdam (Te Amsterdam), By Andries van Damme, Boekverkoper op 't Rokin bezuyden de Beurs, 1721. 8vo. (XL),127,(1 blank),(XII),36 p., frontispiece, 3 engraved plates and 2 text engravings. Vellum 19 cm (Ref: STCN p.p. 171375564) (Details: Nice copy; 5 thongs laced through both joints. Frontispiece, designed, executed and explained by J. Goeree; it shows several allegorical figures in a bucolic landscape (de Nieuwe Plantage); in the foreground sits 'Dichtkonst' (Poetry), listening to 'Zeede-leer' (Ethica), a woman who holds a bridled lion: 'Die Wyze Leermeestres die Leeuwen, fel en wreedt / Door haare lessen temt, en zacht te leyden weet / En hunnen woesten aart voorzigtig in kan tomen'; (p. A1 verso) on a pedestal in the center of the frontispiece rests the rivergod Amstel, surrounded by a host of merry putti; in the distance we get a glimpse of the Muiderpoort. The other 3 plates are designed by A. Houbraken. The first shows the personification of wealthy Amsterdam (steedemaagd), in the background again the Plantage and the Muiderpoort. The second plate depicts 'Dichtkonst' and some putti. The third is an engraving of the rivergod Amstel in a bucolic polder-scene, south of the city. After the title page there is a 3 page dedication with the engraved coat of arms of the Mayor of Amsterdam Mr. Jan de Witt. At the beginning of the second work, the 'Amstelstroom', one finds the coat of arms of Willem Noltenius. On the title a printer's mark, engraved by J. Goeree, it depicts putti playing a game of checkers, the motto reads: 'Let eerje zet') (Condition: Vellum age-toned. Small bookplate on the front pastedown. Paper slightly yellowing) (Note: The Amsterdam wine merchant Daniël Willink, 1676 - 1722, was in his sparetime a local historian and poet. He became a member of the Poetry Society 'Constantia et Labore'. A great poet he was not, and he is only remembered for his poetry on the city of Amsterdam, in which he praises its beauty. These poems, based on his historical investigations, are still of interest. His oldest poem is the 'Amstelstroom', which was first published in 1708. Its second revised and augmented (1/3) edition was combined with the first edition of 'Amsterdamsche Tempe of Nieuwe Plantagie' of 1712, of which this book of 1721 is a reissue. Willink's best known poem, 'Amsterdamsch Buitensingel' was published posthumely in 1723. His interesting historical investigations appeared under the title 'Amstellandsche Arkadia' only in 1737. The history of Amsterdam and its surroundings is told here as a kind of travel story. (NNBW 4,1463/65) § The 'Amsterdamsche Tempe' sings the praises of a so-called 'locus amoenus', in this case the 'Planatagie', which is presented as an idealized place of safety and comfort. There are trees (schoon bosschaadge), there is grass (lustprieël), and water (zilvren vliet). It is a place of refuge that highlights the differences between urban and rural life. 'Zo even doet ook de Ambachtsman/ Die hier komt treeden zonder kommer,/ Daar ieder 't zweet opdroogen kan,/ Gedekt door deeze groene lommer,/ Waar onder hy het zuur vergeet/ Der weeken, waar in hy moet werken, / En troost zich hier in, dat men weet/ Dat Godt den arbeid kan versterken'. (p. 9) The prose preface to 'Amsterdamsche Tempe' opens thus: 'De Nieuwe Plantagie, een wellustige streek lands, in den omkring der wydberoemde Stad Amsterdam geleegen, in het Jaar 1682. begonnen aangelegt, bebouwt, bepoot en beplant te worden, sedert krachtig toegenoomen in allerlei soorten van in- en uitheemsche boom-bloem-en plantgewassen, koomt u hier, bescheiden Leezer, in twee boeken verdeelt, te vooren; waar van het eerste eene beschryvinge der plaatse zelve, met haare rondomleggende gezigten bevat, en het tweede, 't geene nut en sierlyk binnen de hoven gevonden wordt, nevens het zoet vermaak en de aangenaame tydkortinge van ieder jaarsaizoen'. (p. *5 verso) § The 'Plantagebuurt' (Plantage-district), a polder which came within the walls of Amsterdam with the city expansion of 1682/83, was created a park, because it turned out to be impossible to find buyers who wanted to build their houses there. For two centuries this park or 'plantage' served as an entertainment district for the bourgeoisie. It included the city's 'Hortus Botanicus' and from 1838 the Zoo, commonly called 'Artis'. From 1860 onward the park was transformed into a housing-area, an area which still is green, and still popular among the bourgeois. It attracts tourists from all over the world, to visit the Hortus and the Zoo) (Collation: *-2*8 (including frontispiece), 3*4; A-H8 (leaf H8 verso blank); 2A-C8 (Plates before the leaves A1, E1 and 2A1) (Photographs on request)
Book number: 130460 Euro 300.00

Keywords: (Oude Druk), (Rare Books), Amsterdam, Artis, Dichtkunst, Dutch imprints, Dutch literature, Hortus Botanicus, Niederländische Literatur, Nieuwe Plantage, Plantagebuurt, Poesie, Zoo, poetry