[Anthropology] Versteeg, Willem Fredrik (1824-1913). "Races de l'Archipel Indien"

Extensive autogr. signed manuscript in pen, 36 numb. lvs of text recto and verso, w. 7 (of 9) (col.) lithogr. plates and 1 drawing in pencil, orig. (?) hvellum w. mor. letterpiece w. the mentioned title on spine, 28 x 22 cm. Lacks plates 6 and 7; foxing of the other plates; otherwise a very well-preserved and with wonderful provenance: bookplate of Ernest-Théodore Hamy (1842-1908) on upper pastedown (see note). Also w. small bookplate of antiquarian bookseller E. Nourry (Paris) on upper pastedown. The manuscript consists of an introductory letter and 4 parts lettered A-D and a plate-section lettered E. Comprising: (1) Letter addressed to "Très Honoré M. de Quatrefages!", lvs 1-6, dated Amst., 22 Oct. 1871, ending w. "Votre serviteur très obéisant W.F. Versteeg" and with a P.S. requesting confirmation of arrival in good order to be addressed to the Oude Bloemmarkt F. 180. (A) "Notes sur les Races Humaines qui habitent l'Archipel Indien", lvs 7-24. (B) "Idées sur la population Alfour de Mr. Ludeking" (Erhardus W.A. Lüdeking (1830-1877)), lvs 25-26 (final page blank). (C) "Quelques notices sur les tribus et les races humaines de Sumatra par le Dr. C. Swaving" (Cornelis Swaving (1814-1881)), lvs 27-34, ending w. "Batavia ce 15 Décembre 1862 de l'Hollandais traduit en Français par W.F.V". (D) "John Crawford. Alforas, Alforias, Alfores, Alfoers, Alforen, Arafoeras ou Harafoeras", lvs 35-36. (E) Letterpress index listing 10 plates, lvs 37-42 and 45-47 (lacking 43-44).

*De Quatrefages had asked Versteeg at a congress in 1870 for a French translation of articles by important colleagues which had not appeared in French. The manuscript is Versteeg's reply, with an explanation of the appendices in the extensive letter. Willem Frederik Versteeg was a high military officer in the Dutch army in Indonesia, but also engineer, cartographer, explorer and anthropologist specialising in Southeast Asia. He succeeded commander P. Melville van Carnbée (1816-1856) in completing the work on the Algemeene Atlas van Nederlandsch-Indië (1870). Armand de Quatrefages (1810-1892), famous and influential French physician, mathematician and zoölogist, close friend of Henri Milne-Edwards, correspondent with Charles Darwin and Louis Agassiz, and frequently mentioned in Jules Verne's Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1864). De Quatrefages became director of the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris in 1855. Ernest-Théodore Hamy (1842-1908) was a French physician but better known as an anthropologist. In 1872 he became an assistant naturalist at the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, where he worked closely with Armand de Quatrefages. In 1892 he was appointed professor of anthropology at the Museum. His library was sold at auction by Leroux in Paris, 17-25 Mai 1909.