Pages from the tulip book Photo: Collectie Six The tulip book of Nicolaes Tulp is more than a 17th century collection of 104 watercolours of flowers. It is, according to eminent historian Geert Mak, an ‘astonishing testimony to the first speculation craze in the modern age.’ This book, valued at €750,000, is a catalogue of images carefully charting the market value of the tulip bulbs, whose weight was gauged like diamonds, in asen, and which became the subject of a bizarre 17th century boom and crash. With the threat of being sold abroad, the book by artist Jacob Marrel is now the subject of a fundraising campaign by the Six Collection. One of the Netherlands’ most famous families, whose ancestors were painted by Rembrandt, wants to add the book to the collection of its foundations, which aim to preserve Dutch culture and open it to public view. Jan Six van Hillegom X says that once his nephews inherited and decided to sell the book abroad, he temporarily … [Read more...] about Crowdfunding campaign to save rare tulip book from sale abroad