Vosmaer, A.
Description d'une espèce rare de singe d'Amerique à longue queuë, nommé quatto, par les naturels de païs, et, par les Hollandais, bosch-duivel, (diable des bois,) ou slinger-aap, (singe voltigeur;) reçu de la colonie Hollandoise de Surinam; et conservé dans le cabinet de son altesse sérénissime, monseigneur le prince d'Orange et de Nassau, Stadhouder héreditaire, gouverneur, capitaine géneral et amirail des Provinces-Unies des Pais-Bas, &c. &c. &c.
Amsterdam, Pierre Meijer, 1773. 4to (27.3 x 21.0 cm). 12 pp. (including title page); one engraved plate with contemporary colouring. Disbound.
Aernout Vosmaer (1720-1799) was director of the menagerie of Prince Willem V of the Netherlands. Many strange animals were captured and sent to the zoo by Dutch traders who roamed the world. These animals were kept and studied by Vosmaer, who published his findings in a series of treatises, each discussing a different animal. This treatise deals with the tropical South American red-faced or Guiana spider monkey [Ateles paniscus(L.)], and contains notes on systematics, especially regarding similar or related species, behaviour and diet. In 1795 the prince's collection was brought to Paris as a war trophy (Pieters). A coloured copy is much more rare than plain ones. Title page a bit spotted, otherwise a nice clean copy of the rare French edition with a clean, well-coloured plate. Landwehr, 204; Nissen ZBI, 4294; F. Pieters, 1980, Notes on the menagerie and zoological cabinet of Stadholder William V of Holland, directed by Aernout Vosmaer.
