Titelpagina voor het zevende deel van de viervoeters 1809 - 1814

This is the title page for the seventh volume of a book about quadrupeds, made by Joseph van Huerne, a Flemish artist active in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The elegant calligraphy in Dutch, Latin, and French reflects the multilingual culture of the Austrian Netherlands, where the book was likely produced. Scientific publications of the time, products of the Enlightenment, were often multilingual, to facilitate their circulation among different audiences. The very project of classifying animals speaks to the Enlightenment drive to categorize and master the natural world. Books like these were luxury goods, produced for a wealthy, educated elite with an interest in science and natural history. As historians, we might consult library catalogues, scholarly databases, and other archival sources, to discover more about Van Huerne, his patrons, and the market for scientific books in his time. What can a book like this tell us about social class, scientific institutions, or international relations?