Philippe Fermin (1720-after 1765).

Histoire Naturelle de la Hollande Equinoxiale: ou description des animaux, plantes, fruits, et autres curiosite’s naturelles, qui se trouvent dans la colonie de Surinam; avec leurs noms différents, tant François, que Latins, Hollandois, Indiens & Nègre-Anglois.

Amsterdam, M. Macérus, 1756.

Large 8°. [2], XII, [2], 240 pp. With an engraved frontispiece and a title vignette, both by O. de Vries.

Contemporary vellum.

First edition of a detailed work on the flora and fauna of Suriname. Interestingly, the descriptions are given in “Nègre-Anglois” (Black English), along with French, Latin, and Dutch. The term “Nègre-Anglois” refers to what is now known as Sranan Tongo, an English-based creole language that developed in Suriname during the 17th and 18th centuries. This language emerged as a means of communication among enslaved Africans from diverse linguistic backgrounds, and between them and European colonists. Sranan Tongo incorporates elements from English, Dutch, Portuguese, and various West African languages, reflecting the complex colonial and cultural interactions of the time.

Philippe Fermin was a physician born in Maastricht. He spent approximately a decade in Suriname, where he dedicated most of his time to studying the local flora and fauna. His effort to catalogue natural specimens across linguistic and cultural boundaries was relatively advanced for the time.

The frontispiece was designed and engraved by O. de Vries and shows all kinds of “exotic” animals, many of which are completely irrelevant to the book because they are not Surinamese (zebras, ostrich). The plate on the title-page is of more interest, as it depicts hunting practices of local Black people, and O. de Vries only signed it with “sculp”, suggesting he based the composition on someone else’s drawing—perhaps Fermin's?

Condition:
Vellum on front cover somewhat crumpled. Book block wholly untrimmed. Ex-libris of Eugène Martin on front paste-down. First few leaves slightly browned and faintly stained; corner tip stained in the last part; otherwise clean except for an occasional spot.

Reference: Van Doorne/Van Kempen 1944; Sabin 24114.