Introduction

1The illustrations of fishes and other Indo-West Pacific marine animals, primarily from Mauritius and the Molucca Islands, made by Isaac Johannes Lamotius are reproduced here for the first time in their entirety (but see Pietsch & Holthuis 1992). This collection is kept in the Bibliothèque centrale du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris (MS 339), under the Dutch title Zee Tooneel, verbeeldende een wonderbare verscheidenheit van zwemmende en kruipende Zee-Dieren, behorende tot de Geslachten der Visschen, Kreeften, Krabben en andere Water-Schepselen, die merendeels de Indische Zeen, of liever die wateren welleken de Eilanden der Moluccos bespoelen, opleveren. Zynde alle deze hier in afgebeelde Visschen enz., naar het leeven afgeteekent en geschildert door ordere en onder het opzicht van den Wel-Edelen Gestrengen Heere Cornelis de Vlaming; Eertijds Raad en Equipage meester op de Kust van Bengaalen: naderhand de Retourvloot in den Jaare MDCCXV. als Admiraal begeleid hebbende (Sea Theater, Showing a Marvelous Diversity of Swimming and Creeping Marine Animals Belonging to the Groups of Fishes, Lobsters, Crabs, and Other Water-Creatures, that are Largely Brought Forth by the Indian Seas, or Better the Waters that Bathe the Islands of the Moluccas. All the Fishes etc., Figured Here are Drawn and Painted from Life by the Order and Under the Supervision of Mr Cornelis de Vlaming; Formerly Councillor and Equipment Supervisor at the Coast of Bengal: Afterwards Accompanying the Home Fleet of 1715 as an Admiral).

2First described by Cuvier (1828: 86) as the work of Cornelis de Vlaming, the collection was later shown by Holthuis (1959: 85-88; see also Pietsch 1995: 54-61) to have originated with an employee of the Dutch East India Company, I. J. Lamotius (1646 – c. 1718). A more detailed account of the history of these drawings, and of the artist Lamotius, is given here, along with an attempt to identify all the animals depicted. Lamotius’s description of the island of Mauritius and an assessment of his botanical knowledge are also included.

3A few of the figures made by Lamotius have been published in color previously, namely by Pietsch & Holthuis (1992: 34-39; figs. 15, 43, 46, 63, 96, 104, 229, 230, 233), Bauchot & Daget (1996: 244, fig. 3); and Akveld & Jacobs (2002: 68; figs 30-33).