Verzaameling van alle de huizen en prachtige gebouwen langs de Keizers

1768. PHILIPS JACOBSZ, Caspar. Verzaameling van alle de huizen en prachtige gebouwen langs de Keizers en Heere-Grachten der stadt Amsteldam. Letterpress title-page, 2 pages list of householders, plus 24 double-spread engraved plates. Folio, 420 x 280 mm., bound in later tan half calf over marbled boards. Amsterdam: Bernardus Mourik, (1768). First edition of this rare and very important study of Amsterdam architecture, presenting detailed depictions of 1400 facades of homes and buildings along Amsterdam's major residential and business canals (the Heerengracht and Keizergracht). It is significant that the buildings are reproduced precisely as they appeared in the mid-eighteenth century. As the title indicates, this "Collection of all the houses and beautiful buildings along the Amsterdam canals" features etchings of the house fronts in a "mirrored" fashion. The buildings on the right bank of the "gracht" appear directly across from their respective building on the opposite side of the canal. The significance of the work is attested by the numerous facsimile reprints of it. The undated late eighteenth-century reprint (ca. 1790) can be detected by the presence of "J.B. Elwe" as the publisher's name in the imprint. Caspar Philips (1732-1785) was an etcher, engraver, illustrator, and surveyor, and author (he published several books on perspective). His Verzaameling is justly considered to be one of the great primary documents for the study of Amsterdam architectural heritage. With the rare list of householders. Vente Leonhardt ("Atlas van Amsterdam") 85.