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Florisatus Fine Books
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Edwin & Liesbeth Bloemsaat

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A revolution in fire fighting - The rare first edition
Heyden, Jan vander, Sr and Jr. Beschryving der nieuwlijks uitgevonden en geoctrojeerde slang-brand-spuiten, en haare wijze van brand-blussen, Tegenwoordig binnen Amsterdam in gebruik zijnde. Behelzende wijders aanwijzing van ?t verschil tusschen haare uitwerking, en die van d?oude blus-gereedschappen en spuiten; zo uit de werktuigen zelve, als uit de blussing der branden, welke binnen deeze stad, onder ?t gebruik van beyde, zijn voorgevallen. Nevens beschrijving der Brand-ordres v.d. Stad Amsterdam. Amsterdam, Jan Rieuwertsz., 1690. Folio (450 x 260 mm). [VIII], 50 p.

With 17 numbered and 1 unnumbered plate (7 folding) by J. van der Heide.

Vellum laced case binding.
This book, describing the effectiveness of a new type of fire extinguishing apparatus, using hoses, is in fact an advertisement for its inventors, Jan van der Heide Sr and Jr, who managed to sew together pieces of leather strips in such a way that they became applicable for both suction and delivery. This way the engines could be supplied with water continuously and the stream could be more readily directed at the fire.

The book describes several fires that occurred in Amsterdam in the period 1652-1684 and the equipment used before the introduction of the new hose-pump. The suggestion of the author is that with this equipment those fires would not have been as severe as they were.

The elder Van der Heide started his career as a painter, but developed later a technical knowledge. After his invention of this fire extinguishing machine in 1673 he was appointed Head of the Amsterdam Fire Department, together with his brother Nicolaes. After the death of his brother he continued to perfect the invention, now in cooperation with his son Jan. The drawings for this work are kept in the Stadsarchief Amsterdam.

Although this book was basically a piece of advertising, Van der Heide sold it for ten guilders, a considerable sum at the time.

This is the first edition, containing the 17 plates mentioned in the Van Stolk Atlas 2832 (plate 6 has been attributed to Romeyn de Hooghe) and one additional plate (nr 19 in Van Stolk), depicting a ship that caught fire on an Amsterdam shipyard on May 14, 1690. There are also two later issues of the same edition with 19 (7 folding) plates. A second edition, with 6 additional plates, was published in 1735. That edition is much less rare than the first.

In 1959 A.C. van Eck published an article on this book, entitled De brandspuitboeken der van der Heydens, in the monthly Amstelodamum (vol. 46, pp. 78-81). In it he reports that of this first fully illustrated edition of 1690 three issues were made, in relatively small numbers, the first issue being the one having the 17 numered plates plus one unnumbered one. The author considers the quality of the plates of the 1690 edition much superior to that of the reworked plates in the 1735 one. He draws attention to the special 'toning' technique used on plate 13 and 17 to show black smoke coming out of the windows.

-Provenance: Printed label on upper paste down: I. de La Lau (-1849), given after his death to genootschap Math. Scient. Gen.

-Literature: Atlas van Stolk 2832; Bierens de Haan 2055; Graesse III, 230-1; Hollstein IX, 24; Muller 2301; NNBW III, 584-6; Wurzbach I, 685-7.

-Condition: Some small worm holes in the white margin of the last 4 leaves; Lacks ties; Splendid copy of the rare first edition.
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