Historiae animalium. Opus Philosophis, Medicis, Grammaticis, Philologis, Poetis, et omnibus rerum linguarumque variarum studiosis ... Editio secunda novis iconibus nec non observationibus non paucis auctior, atque etiam multis in locis emendatior

Description:

Second Frankfurt edition (third Latin edition). Complete example of Gesner's Historia animalium in six parts: 1) Liber Primus: De Quadrupedibus viviparis (1620), 2) Lib. II: De Quadrupedibus oviparis (1617), 3) Lib. III: De Avium natura (1617), 4) Lib. IV: De piscium et aquatilium animatium natura (1620), 5) Lib. V: De serpentium natura (1621), 6) De scorpione (1621).

Conrad Gesner (1516-1565) was a Swiss physician, naturalist, and bibliographer. His great zoological work, Historia animalium, was encyclopaedic in scope, resulting 'in the first large-scale illustrated work on Zoology' Dance (1978). It represents one of the great printed works of the Renaissance.

Gesner sought to produce a monumental zoological work that would draw on ancient sources, such as the Old Testament, and the works of Aristotle, Pliny the elder, and medieval bestiaries while adding his own contemporary observations and those from his extensive network of European naturalists. Many of his contributors were physicians, surgeons, or apothecaries. The work includes animals recently found during voyages of exploration, from the East Indies, the far north and species brought back from the New World. A remarkable feature of the work is the extensive use of woodcut illustrations, which have intrigued and delighted readers and scholars for centuries. The only illustrator acknowledged by Gesner was the Strasbourg artist Lucas Schan (active 1526–1558) who produced images of birds.

Famous illustrations in this work include a reproduction of Albrecht Dürer’s Rhinoceros 1515, and depictions of fantastical creatures, such as the sea monk, sea bishop, unicorns and mermaids.

Nissen ZBI 1549, 1550, 1553, 1556; Nissen IVB 349

Condition

6 parts in 2 volumes, folio, cont. vellum, 5 raised bands and manuscript title to spines, blind stamps to boards, a little stained, slightly warped, corners bumped, joints partly cracked, several tears to backstrip of second volume. Page 445 of Lib. I neatly repaired with small loss of text. Some browning, but a well-preserved copy.