Christoph Abraham von Eyl (?-?).

Parisische Conferentzen darinnen vorgetragen wird eine historische nach dem Alphabet eingerichtete Namen-Tafel, uber alle Provinitzien, Städte, Vestungen und Oerter der vereinigten Niederlande.

Sulzbach, A. Lichtenthaler, 1672.

12°. [2], 388 pp., with a folding engraved frontispiece.

Contemporary calf with gold-tooled spine and title-label.

A very rare geographical-political handbook on the Dutch Republic, published in the year of the “Rampjaar” (Disaster Year) of 1672, at the outbreak of the Franco-Dutch War. The work combines a series of “Parissische Conferenzen” (political dialogues) with a substantial alphabetical gazetteer (“Namen-Tafel”) of the provinces, towns, fortresses, and places of the Dutch Republic. The engraved frontispiece depicts a conference scene in an interior, with figures engaged in political discussion.

This work appears to be absent from the collections of the Koninklijke Bibliotheek (KB, The Hague). The present Sulzbach edition was issued in the same year as a closely related Nuremberg edition (Hoffmann, 1672), with a slightly different engraved frontispiece but otherwise identical  (VD17 23:311275R).

The connection between the two parts of the book is relatively loose. Although the title claims that the geographical dictionary is “useful” for the newly begun war, this seems more a matter of presentation or marketing than of real practical use. In essence, the book combines a standard alphabetical description of the United Netherlands with contemporary political discussions, making use of the strong European interest in Dutch affairs during the crisis year of 1672. The dialogues place the Dutch Republic in a wider historical and political context, with references to ancient Greece and Rome and reflections on the balance between republican freedom and monarchical power—questions that were especially relevant in the time of Louis XIV. The gazetteer, on the other hand, provides a concise but detailed overview of the Republic’s cities, fortresses, and commercial centers, highlighting its strategic and economic significance. Of particular interest is the inclusion of information from unpublished sources, such as an inventory of the shell collection of Jan Volkertsz (see Leonhard & Leuker in Simiolus).

Reference: VD17 23:311275R.

Leonhard, Karin, and Maria-Theresia Leuker. “Who Commissioned Hollar’s Shells?” Simiolus: Netherlands Quarterly for the History of Art, vol. 37, no. 3/4, 2013, pp. 227–39.

Condition: Slightly browned and with foxing; joints rubbed; spine with traces of worming.