Theatrum fungorum - photo 1
Theatrum fungorum - photo 2
Theatrum fungorum - photo 3
Theatrum fungorum - photo 4
Theatrum fungorum - photo 5
Theatrum fungorum - photo 6
Theatrum fungorum - photo 7

Theatrum fungorum

Starting price
$ 100
Auction dateClassic
19.10.2023 10:00UTC -04:00
Auctioneer
CHRISTIE'S
Event location
USA, New York
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 1032772
Lot 120 | Theatrum fungorum
Franz van STERBEECK (1630-1693). Theatrum fungorum oft het tooneel der Campernoelien. Antwerp: Joseph Jacobs, 1675.

First edition of the first book seriously devoted to the kingdom of fungus, lavishly illustrated and in contemporary Flemish calf. While mushrooms have been used and cultivated by humans since prehistory, even today much about them remains to be understood. The author of the present work was an Antwerp priest and botanist—mushrooms were usually included under the umbrella of "botany," although a century later Linnaeus would class them with worms. He discusses both edible and poisonous varieties, and his text is written in Dutch, making it accessible to a wider group of readers who might benefit from practical knowledge. The elaborate frontispiece by Eduard van Ordonie after Arnold van Westerhout depicts a mushroom market, with garlands of fungus carried by putti and vendors hawking their wares.

It is the first work devoted solely to mushrooms as a category—in this case, also including potatoes, because Sterbeeck thought they were a fungus. The influential botanist Carolus Clusius had included a section on fungus in his Pannonis Observatorum Historia; however, the "original manuscript for this treatise with its eighty-seven original drawings had been lost by the publisher, so they had to use other illustrations for the 1601 edition, and these were quite inaccurate. Afterwards, the lost manuscript reappeared and Sterbeeck used it as a basis for his work, adding much new material of his own" (Hunt). Many of the illustrations here are based on Clusius's fine watercolors; one, plate 31, is copied with acknowledgement from Robert Hooke’s Micrographia of 1665; it depicts the spores of fungi under magnification. A portrait depicts the dedicatee, the anatomist Johannes van Buyten. Nissen BBI 1892; Pritzel 8947; Hunt 341.

Quarto (201 x 156mm). Half title. Engraved frontispiece, folding portrait, and 36 engraved plates, 27 of which are folding or double-page (very faint marginal dampstaining to a few leaves, small stub tear to portrait). Contemporary Flemish calf, spine gilt (upper joint just starting, worn at extremities). Provenance: purchase inscription at end of index giving a date of 12/8/1734, and note of currency and cost – faint manuscript annotations in light pencil to some illustrations, and ‘Hall. Hist.’ followed by a four-digit number (references are to Albrecht von Haller’s 1768 Historia stirpium indigenarum Helveticae inchoate; Sterbeeck is cited in the corresponding entries – old paper circular library label on spine with number 3196.

Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
20 Rockefeller Plaza
10020 New York
USA
Preview
14.10.2023 10:00 – 17:00
15.10.2023 13:00 – 17:00
16.10.2023 10:00 – 17:00
17.10.2023 10:00 – 17:00
18.10.2023 10:00 – 17:00
Phone +1 212 636 2000
Fax +1 212 636 4930
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase
Shipping Postal service
Courier service
pickup by yourself
Payment methods Wire Transfer
Business hoursBusiness hours
Mo 09:30 – 17:00   
Tu 09:30 – 17:00   
We 09:30 – 17:00   
Th 09:30 – 17:00   
Fr 09:30 – 17:00   
Sa closed
Su closed

Related terms

Frequently asked questions

First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.