Joodse Oudheden, ofte Voor-bereidselen op de Bybelsche Wysheid, by Willem Goeree. Amsterdam: Wilhelmus Goeree, 1690. Dutch. First edition in two volumes.
This work by architect and scholar Willem Goeree seeks to lay scientific foundations for biblical stories. Accompanied by 88 impressive engravings (including two engraved title pages. Many of the engravings are on folding plates) and dozens of in-text small engravings, depicting the dimensions and shape of Biblical edifices, objects and sites: The Tower of Babel, Noah's Ark, the First Temple (an especially large engraving), the garments of the High Priest, the world during the various stages of its creation, and more. One of the important sources used by Goeree for this composition was ancient Hebrew coins, hundreds of which were illustrated in the engravings of the book.
Willem Goeree (1635-1711), native of Middelburg, the Netherlands, was an architect, publisher and scholar. His father, the Hebraist Hugo Georee, participated in the making of Rabbi Yehuda Leon Templo's model of Solomon's Temple. The project deeply affected the son's work and many of his compositions were dedicated to the reconstruction of Biblical structures and sites using scientific tools. Georee assigned great importance to the visual representation of his reconstructions and his books were considered particularly beautiful due to the numerous illustrations and sketches that were printed in them, some of which were made by the most important printmakers of his time.
Volume I: [2] ff., 844 pp., [18] ff. + [49] engraved plates; Volume II: [1] f., 845-1716 pp., [18] ff. + [39] engraved plates. Approx. 33.5 cm. Good condition. Stains. Tears and minor blemishes. One of the engraved plates is bound upside down. Ornate parchment bindings, with blemishes and wear.