QUI SICCIS OCULIS MONSTRA NATANTIA QUI VIDIT MARE TURGIDUM. [GREENLAND FISHERY.] (HE WHO SEES WITH HIS OWN DRY EYES THE MONSTER SWIMMING, SEES A WAVE-TOSSED SEA.)
Qui Siccis Oculis Monstra Natantia Qui Vidit Mare Turgidum. [Greenland Fishery.] (He who sees with his own dry eyes the monster swimming, sees a wave-tossed sea.)
Engraving, c.1720.
Image size 21 5/8 x 38 1/8" (54.7 x 96.8 cm).
Good condition, save for minor water mark in title margin. LOCATION: New York City
Inventory Number: 13835
Price: $9,000.00 Publisher : Two-plate engraving joined in the center. S. Vdr. Meulen Delineavit (drawn by). A. Vander Laan Fecit (engraved by). P. Schenk Iun: Excudit amst: cum priv:. Poem below title reads as follows: "Much bravery is shown by those, who in a sea full of water-ghosts / Face icebergs, storms, and rocky cliffs, / For catching whales on Greenland's shores / Only guided, even beyond North Cape, by Hecla's glow. / Samoyeds are afraid when they see the spouting whales / As the raging monsters are chased and killed / And sea harpoons paint the Ice-Sea red with blood. / But Iceland lives from walrus, oil and seal. / The brave take care of Holland's growing trade. / Be silent, Colchis, and see how Holland's heroes rove / Searching beastly monsters in the northern darkness / Until the Polar Circle's ice the whalemen holds." Translation taken from "Whaling Prints in the Francis B. Lothrop Collection" by Elizabeth Ingalls, p.14. 18th-19th Century Subjects , Marine , Whaling