"The Cabinet of Natural Curiosities" is one of the greatest achievements in 18th-century natural history and remains one of the most valuable natural history books of all time. Albertus Seba (1665–1736), a pharmacist from Amsterdam, had an unparalleled passion for collecting natural specimens, gathering animals, plants, and insects from around the world, which earned him international fame. In 1731, after decades of collecting, Seba commissioned careful, often scenographic illustrations of each specimen. With these detailed drawings, he organized the publication of a four-volume catalog covering his entire collection of strange and exotic plants, snakes, frogs, crocodiles, snails, corals, birds, and butterflies, as well as creatures that are now extinct. Based on a rare, color original edition, the highly popular collection includes an introduction that places the intriguing tradition of natural collections, to which Seba's curiosities belonged.