Manier im Groote Dieren te Vangen.2:de Deel Pag. 114.
Engraving with very large margins, printed on 18th century watermarked paper. Library stamp bottom right. Plate 292 x 171mm (11½ x 6¾").
Khoikhoi elephant traps: two large holes have been dug in the ground covered by bushes so as to be hidden and complete with a large spike to kill they catch; an elephant has fallen into one hole in the foreground. Other elephants walking around; an empty hole ready to left foreground. From "Naaukeurige beschryving van de kaap de Goede Hoop". Peter Kolbe (1675-1726) was sent to South Africa with a mission to provide information about the country and to do astronomical and surveying research. First published in Germany in 1719 as Caput Bonae Spei Hodiernum, the book "professes to be a complete account of the Cape Colony and its inhabitants. His writings were the basis of nearly everything that was published concerning South Africa during the next half century. To those who can compare them with official records of the time, they are unquestionably of very great value, but others should be careful not to rely too much upon them. This, from the Dutch edition, was published in Amsterdam in two great volumes in 1727.
[Ref: 30857] £90.00