Nozeman, Cornelius (1721-1786)

Cornelius Nozeman was a Dutch minister of the Remonstrant church and an ornithologist. He 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 and artist, Christiaan Sepp, drew the illustrations and Nozeman wrote the text for the first two volumes. The first volume was published by Sepp’s son, Jan Christiaan Sepp, a bookseller with a strong background in natural history and engraving. In 1775, Christiaan Sepp died and his son Jan Christiaan Sepp completed the second volume. In 1786 Nozeman died, with most of the descriptions for the second volume written. Thus, it was the first two volumes which were directly created by these renowned ornithologists, artists and engravers. Martinus Houttuyn continued the work for the third volume, which was 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 Sepp 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.

Prints from this publication are rare