Expéditions

réf. 51581 — Leiden E. J. Brill 1901-1986. Large 4to ca. 33.0 x 27.0 cm; more than 1200 plates 188 in colour including lithographed and chromolithographed plates some etchings and photographic plates. Partly original printed wrappers partly blind wrappers. = Very rare complete set of the results of the largest oceanographic expedition in Indonesian waters which are renowned for their unsurpassed biodiversity. The expedition was initiated and lead by the Dutch biologist Max Wilhelm Carl Weber 1852-1937. "On 1 November 1898 the Siboga was officially commissioned and left for the Dutch East Indies the same day. On 7 February 1899 the ship arrived in Batavia and sailed on 11 February to the naval port of Surabaya on East Java. After the final preparations there including the removal of all other armament the expedition to investigate the marine fauna and flora of the Indonesian Archipelago as Max Weber described it began on 7 March 1899. When the Siboga returned to Surabaya on 26 February 1900 at the end of the expedition the ship had crossed an area of 1200 miles 1900 km in a north-south direction and 1500 miles 2400 km in an east-west direction covering a distance of more than 12000 nautical miles 22000 km. map of the route of the Siboga In total 181 fishing trips were made with the trawl or dredge during which depth measurements were also taken. In addition other types of nets such as the trawl were used at 103 positions and bottom samples were taken at 96 positions. Although the expedition was primarily focused on the deep sea of the Indonesian Archipelago shallow waters coral reefs and beaches were also investigated. And Weber and his companions also made regular land excursions during which they did not fail to search if appropriate sometimes successfully for scientifically unknown species at local fish markets! The expedition journal includes a total of 323 so-called ‘measuring stations’ i.e. sea and land locations where the applicable observations catches or finds have been formally recorded. During the expedition a number of times a port was called at for provisions and bunkering of coal but also to send the already collected specimens preserved and packed in glass jars and zinc boxes to the Zoological Laboratory of the University of Amsterdam. There as Weber was later able to ascertain to his great joy they always arrived virtually undamaged. The enormous catch of zoological botanical and geological material that the Siboga Expedition yielded was the work of four scientists. No fewer than 61 scientists 54 zoologists 4 botanists 2 geologists and 1 hydrographer from 10 countries subsequently examined and described the collected material over a period of many decades. The results were published in 148 monographs or 'Livraisons'. The first appeared in 1901 the probably last in 1986." Dutch Wikipedia. Nearly 50 percent of the species described are new to science for example 131 new species of fishes. The Siboga results include even more species than those of the famous Challenger Expedition. Arguably this is te most important Dutch contribution to oceanography and hydrobiology ever. Published over a very long period and therefore rarely found complete. Papers are in German English or French. Three plates in Part 72 in photostat. Some wrappers slightly damaged a few with some staining to the interior otherwise a very good set. Not in Nissen which is downright ridiculous. unknown