Alckmaarse Lusthoff van Tulpaanen

Date of creation

1637-02-05

Period

• 17e eeuw

Description

‘Alckmaarse Lusthoff van Tulpaanen, ofte Verkooping van een Parteÿ Tulpaanen, binnen Alckmaar den 5 February 1637’ is a so-called tulip book: a collection of 64 watercolour drawings of tulips, bound in red leather. Dozens of tulip catalogs were made between 1630 and 1640. It was the time of tulipmania, when the flowers were so popular among wealthy city dwellers that they were willing to pay huge sums for them. That bubble burst in 1637. The climax of tulipmania was the sale of the tulip bulbs of the deceased innkeeper Wouter Bartholmiesz Winckers on February 5, 1637 in Alkmaar. This auction became so famous because the prices were published in a pamphlet entitled Lijste van eenighe Tulpaen (also in the Fagel collection). A handwritten version of this list can be found in this tulip book: 2 pages with the names, weights (in azes, a unit of measure in which gold was also measured) and sky-high prices: 3000 guilders for a 'Viceroij', and even 5200 guilders for an 'Admiral van enckhuijsen'. In total, according to this list, the sale brought in 89,988 guilders. The painter of this tulip book is still unknown – only the last watercolour, according to the caption, was made by Joh. Barentsz, but it differs in style from the rest. Some drawings show a resemblance to those in other tulip books by the Utrecht painter Jacob Marrell, such as the one in the Six Collection in Amsterdam. But this demands more research. It is also unknown how the book ended up in the Fagels' library. Perhaps it was purchased by Caspar Fagel around 1681 or by Francois Fagel around 1707. Both men were then busy investing a lot of money in the construction of their gardens.

Collection

Fagel collection

Institution

• Trinity College Dublin

Source

• IE TCD MS 1706/1, TCD

Copyright

Public domain