dsc_0056dsc_0053dsc_0050dsc_0049dsc_0048resize862G Conrad Gesner 1516-1565

Conradi Gesneri medici Tigurini Historiae Animalium Lib. I. de Quadrupedibus viviparis. Opus Philosophis, Medicis, Grammatical, Philologis, Poetis, & omnibus rerum linguarum quae variorum studiosis, utilissimum simul iucundissimumquae futurum. Ad Lectorem. Habebis in hoc Volumine, optime Lector, non solum simplicem animalium historiam, sed etiam veluti commentarios copiosos, & castigations plurimas om veterum ac recentiorum de animalibus scripta quae videre hactenus nobis licuit omnia: praecipue vero in Aristotelis, Plinii, Aelinai, Oppiani, authorum rei rusticate, Alberti Magni, &c. de animalibus lucubrationes. Tuum erit, candied Lector, diligentissimum & laboriosissimum Opus, quod non minori tempore quam quidam de elephantis fabulantur, conceptum efformatumque; nobis, divino auxilio nunc tandem in lucem aedimus, non modo boni consulere, sed etiam tantis conatibus (ut alterum quoque; Tomum vitius & alacrius absolvamus) ex animo favere ac bene precari: & Domino Deo bonorum omnium authori servatorique; qui tot tantasque; red ad Universi ornatum, & varios hominum usus creavit, ac nobis ut ea contempoaremur, vitam, valetudinem, otium & ingenium donavit, gratias agree maximas.

Tiguri Apud Christ. Froschoverum, Anno M. D. LI [1551].                                 $ Sold

 

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Folio [alpha]-[beta]6 [gamma]8 a-3a6. This copy is bound in 18th century quarter calf over marbled boards.

Gesner, who is best known for his groundbreaking work in bibliography, was at heart a natural historian. His contemporaries knew him best as a botanist despite lectureships in Greek and physics and a degree in medicine. Even Cuvier referred to Gesner as “the German Pliny.” Gesner’s interest in what we would today call zoology focused on “animal physiology and pathology, and he is considered by some the founder of veterinary science.” (DSB) The present book is a his work on quadrupeds, which was the first volume of his seminal “Historia Animalium” that appeared in four volumes from 1551-1558. The “Historia Animalium” has been called the “starting-point of modern zoology.” (EB)“”The most authoritative zoological book beween Aristotle and the publication of Ray`s classification of fauna in 1693, it remained the standard reference book even as late as Linné.” (PMM 77)

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