Albertus Seba, an apothecary in early-eight-eenth-century Amsterdam, was proud in-deed of his collection of natural history specimens, or cabinet of curiosities. In a letter to a potential buyer, he wrote that it included "all sorts of exquisite pieces from the East and West Indies," among these no less than "700 jars containing the rarest exotic animals and many particularly rare snakes. Also brought together thus are every exceptional sort of beautiful and rare conch, the finest and most complete butterflies from the 4 corners of the Earth [and samples] of all the plants, some familiar pieces, but unfamiliar ones too." Seba commissioned several artists to meticulously record these diverse objects, and their drawings, supplemented by commentary, were collected in a magnificent four-volume set entitled Loccupletissimi Rerum Thesauri Accurata Descriptio (Thesaurus for short). The work incorporated an impressive total of 446 copperplates and was published between 1734 and 1765.
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机译：十八世纪初阿姆斯特丹的药剂师艾伯特·塞巴（Albertus Seba）为他的自然历史标本或好奇心收藏而感到自豪。在给潜在买家的一封信中，他写道，其中包括“来自东西印度的各种精美作品”，其中不少于“装有最珍贵的外来动物和许多特别稀有的蛇的700个罐子。都是每一种异常美丽而罕见的海螺，是来自所有植物的4个地球和样本的最细，最完整的蝴蝶，有些是熟悉的，有些则是不熟悉的。”塞巴（Seba）委托几位艺术家精心记录了这些不同的物体，并将其画作和注释补充在一个宏伟的四卷本中，名为“ Loccupletissimi Rerum Thesauri Accurata Descriptio”（简称词库）。该作品总共包含446张铜版，并于1734年至1765年间出版。
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