The Whale Book
Whales and other marine animals as described by Adriaen Coenen in 1584
Florike EgmondOriginally written in Dutch, Adriaen Coenen's illustrated manuscripts represent the first European natural history of whales and other marine animals. This volume is an edited reproduction of that early publication.
With commentaries by Kees Lankester In the late 16th century, Dutch beachcomber Adriaen Coenen scanned the beaches of Holland for interesting marine material and produced several illustrated manuscripts of his findings, covering anything from the commonplace herring to the exotic moonfish. Coenen's work contains the earliest European pictures of whales, naïve but easily identifiable, which makes it a rare visual and textual source for the natural world of his day.
The Whale Book offers a representative selection of more than 100 pages from Coenen's manuscripts that deal mainly, though not exclusively, with whales. Coenen's charming, lively watercolours are reproduced in colour alongside translations of his texts, and both are accompanied by modern marine-biological identifications and observations that amplify and explain his work, setting it within the wider context of this period in Northern European history.
The Whale Book will appeal to all those interested in the natural world and the preservation of threatened marine wildlife, as well as those active in the fields of cultural history, art and the natural sciences. In addition, readers will gain unexpected insights into the experiences of an everyday figure caught up in the events of a turbulent period in Dutch history.
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Ms. Egmond's and Mr. Masons introduction and Mr. Lankesters commentary put their selected drawings and translated captions into perspective, producing a volume as enticing today as dinner with Adriaen Coenen must have been more than four centuries ago. No reviewer can do justice to this eclectic collection.
'Seattle Times
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This book is one of the year's glorious oddities. Based on the writings and watercolors of 16th-century Dutch beachcomber and autodidact Adriaen Coenen, it reproduces, with lively commentary, what are probably the world's oldest manuscripts on European whales and marine animals.
'Discover
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Offers unique insights both in to the marine life of the North Sea in the 16th century and into the myths that, in those days, still held water.
'Boston Globe
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Coenen created a rare collection of early zoological observations, accompanied by a wealth of anecdotes, legends and cultural histories . . . It gives a fascinating insight, not just into the social life of the period but its popular beliefs – from monsters to mermaids.
'BBC History Magazine
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A captivating book.
'History Today
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Coenens manuscripts were known only to a small circle, so they did not play a role in the history of marine biology. They give, however, an interesting picture of the knowledge of marine biology in the Netherlands in the sixteenth century . . . Coenens marvellous pictures and wonderfully vivid writings can still amuse the twenty-first century reader.
'Archives of Natural History
Florike Egmond is a cultural historian specializing in 16th-century natural history. She works at the Dutch National Archive in The Hague, The Netherlands.
