1551 CONRAD GESNER Historia Animalium 1ST ED RENAISSANCE ZOOLOGY Animals MAMMALS

Description

[Early Printing - Switzerland] [Latin Classics in English Translation] [Encyclopedias]
[History of Science - Zoology] [Pre-Linnaean Natural History - Mammals] [Early Book Illustrations]
Printed in Zurich by Christoph Froschauer, 1551.
FIRST EDITION. PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED WITH FINE LARGE ZOOLOGICAL WOODCUTS.
Text in Latin, with quotations and words in a variety of other languages: Greek, Hebrew, Arabic and Persian (transliterated in Hebrew characters), German, Italian, English, etc).
An excellent, complete example of this MONUMENTAL RENAISSANCE TREATISE ON THE MAMMALS, which constitutes the 1st volume - entirely independent and complete in itself - of GESNER'S MASSIVE AND ENORMOUSLY POPULAR ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE ENTIRE ANIMAL KINGDOM and the first systematic treatise on zoology of the Renaissance. It was "the MOST INFLUENTIAL ZOOLOGICAL BOOK between Aristotle and the publication of Ray's classification of fauna
in 1693... it remained the standard reference book even as late as Linnaeus” (PMM).
Along with Gesner's other works, this book was
placed on the Index of Forbidden Books by the Spanish Inquisition
(see J. Martínez de Bujanda, et al.,
Index de l'Inquisition Espagnole: 1551, 1554, 1559
, p.338)
Complete, well preserved copies of the 1st editions of Gesner's zoological works (like the one offered here) are now very rare on the market.
Conrad Gesner's magnificent zoological work was based on the author's extensive journeys throughout Europe, as well as on his immense knowledge of previously published literature.
The large and detailed woodcuts illustrating Gesner's formidable folio are the first original zoological illustrations and the first naturalistic representations of animals to be published. As such they herald THE BIRTH OF ZOOLOGICAL BOOK ILLUSTRATION.
They served as the archetypes of numerous subsequent animal illustrations, even into the 18th century.
Designs of a few woodcuts - including the iconic depiction of a rhinoceros on p. 953 - are attributed to Albrecht Dürer, most illustrations are attributed to Lukas Schan
.
Arguably, the most impressive aspect of Gessner's
Historiae animalium
is the attention to detail with which he describes each species.
Each animal has a woodcut to illustrate it, with a thorough description broken down in to eight topics. These topics included, among others, all the known names of the animal in living and dead languages, the animal's physical description, geographical range, uses in medicine, and even any mentions in history and literature.
"
Gessner also provided the names of each animal in as many languages as were known or available to him, and he even proposed suitable German names for animals that had not yet been named in the vernacular. The indexes to these names are in Latin, Hebrew, Arabic and Persian [...], Greek, Italian, Spanish, French, German, English and 'Illyric' [which stands for the Slavic languages Czech, Polish and Russian, the latter in Romanized form].
" (Wellisch A 23,1).
Conrad Gesner, or Gessner (1516 - 1565) was a Swiss physician, naturalist, bibliographer, and philologist.
Born into a poor family in Zürich, Switzerland, his father and teachers quickly realized his talents and supported him through university, where he studied classical languages, theology and medicine. He became Zürich's City Physician, but was able to spend much of his time on collecting, research and writing. Gessner compiled monumental works on bibliography (Bibliotheca universalis 1545–1549) and zoology (Historia animalium 1551–1558) and was working on a major botanical text at the time of his death from plague at the age of 49. He is regarded as the father of modern scientific bibliography, zoology and botany. He was frequently the first to describe species of plants or animals in Europe, such as the tulip in 1559. A number of plants and animals have been named after him.
"The
Historia animalium
was a product of a Renaissance scholar, philologist and physician. Following Aristotle's classification, the first volume [offered here] dealt with viviparous quadrupeds; the second volume with oviparous quadrupeds; the third with birds; and the fourth with aquatic animals. The animals were ordered  alphabetically in each volume. As may be surmised from the sheer size of the four-volume set published in Gessner's life-time [...] the
Historia animalium
was certainly not a work aimed at the student market. In 1561, Froschauer quoted the price of 2 florins for the first volume [...]
"Gessner himself pointed out that the
Historia animalium
was not a book to be read through from start to finish, but rather to be used like a dictionary to be dipped into from time to time. The alphabetical ordering of animals and descriptions grouped under eight headings for each animal facilitated this intended use. It would be rash to interpret this work as a zoological dictionary, given the eight headings: names of the animal in various languages; habitat of the animal; physical features and habits; character; use of the animal other than for food or medicine; culinary uses; medical uses; philology. The
Historia animalium
contains much to do with animal physiology, behaviour and
materia medica
, but the predominant part of the work which made the volumes so bulky, was the discussion on animal philology, including etymology, names, epithets, and proverbs. Use of philology is also prominent in the examination and comparison of ancient descriptions which added an 'historical' dimension to each animal, as Laurent Pinon has argued.
"
Gessner's aim stated on the title page was to collect everything written about animals by authors, both ancient and modern. Gessner's
Historia animalium
was furthermore an 'inventory' of knowledge about animals throughout history
. Gessner did not distill or reduce similar descriptions, but rather juxtaposed them; nor did he eliminate contradictory or false descriptions of existing animals, or omit descriptions of animals whose existence was uncertain. The
Historia animalium
thus included familiar species such as horses, cats, dogs and mice, mythical beasts like the unicorn and the griffin, exotic animals including the crocodile, the sloth and the  turkey, as well as various 'monsters'.  [...]
"Gessner certainly needed to rely on friends and correspondents in order to achieve his stated aim of including in his work every animal ever written about. He also relied  on other sources, such as artists, broadsides, books, and manuscripts, and he was usually meticulous about stating the source of his images. In the first volume, of the 96 woodcuts, no source is listed for 46 of those which were mainly of native and domestic animals. [...]
"
Gessner often stated that he had had images made 'ad vivum': for example the picture of the porcupine was of the animal shown around in Zurich by a beggar (presumably for money). [...] Pictures of rare beasts such as the reindeer, the gulo, the 'Scythian wolf', sea monsters and cetaceous creatures were copied from the map of the northern regions by Olaus Magnus; those of the ichneumon and hyena were taken from an old manuscript by Oppian, a classical author on fishing and hunting; woodcuts of 'Indian goats', a long-tailed monkey, and the giraffe were copied from Bernard von Breydenbach's 'Die heyligen reyssen gen Jherusalem' (1486, 1488); Gessner reported that he had not seen a live
cricetus
(hamster to us), but had once seen its pelt at the Frankfurt fair, and that he borrowed its image from a German book on animals by Michael Herr
. [...]
"
Perhaps the most famous broadside of all used by Gessner was that of the RHINOCEROS BY ALBRECHT DURER. The woodcut of the rhinoceros was copied faithfully from Dürer's famous print. Gessner reported that it was the picture of a rhinoceros sent to the King of Portugal from the Camabaia region (Gujarat to us) in 1515
. He also added that he had seen a painted picture of the same rhinoceros which was certified by another scholar. Even with a notable artist like Dürer, Gessner referred to an additional witness. Of the 96 images in the first volume, 25 were sent in by correspondents. Hence the picture of the 'zibeth cat' was drawn 'ad vivum' by the 'learned nobleman Petrus Merbel'; the  picture  of  the 'glis' (dormouse to us) was sent to him by 'the most learned physician at Bergamo', Guilhelmo Gratoro. [...]
"The sources of Gessner's images were thus varied they included live, dried or partial specimens; images from other printed books, manuscripts, maps and prints; drawings made by artists at his request; drawings sent in by his friends and chosen by Gessner.” (S. Kusukawa, The sources of Gessner's pictures for the
Historia animalium
, Annals of Science ,Vol. 67, No. 3, p.303-328)
Remarkably this volume includes an image of the unicorn (p.781), with Gesner proclaiming: "Such is the reputation of the unicorn that its image cannot be excluded."
A medical doctor and professor of physics, Gesner rigorously reviews biblical, classical, and medieval tracts about the unicorn; his conclusions are unclear. He sees the long tapered horns preserved in European collections as evidence of the unicorn's existence. Elsewhere, he suggests that the unicorn may have been lost in the Flood. Nonetheless, Gesner offers advice on how to distinguish between authentic and false unicorn horns, and tells of a man who was cured after eating a poisoned cherry by drinking the marrow of a unicorn horn mixed with wine. Like al-Qazwini before him, Gesner states that the horn could be used against epilepsy.
The recto of the final leaf of this magnificent folio is embellished with a charming woodcut depicting God completing the creation of Eve from Adams's rib in the Garden of Eden, surrounded with the already created animals.
Bibliographical references:
Adams G 532; Horblit, Grolier 100 Science Books, 39; Nissen, Zoologische Buchillustration, 1549; PMM 77; Brunet, II, col. 1564; Souhart 215-216; Schwerdt I, p. 204-205; Vischer C 433.
Physical description:
Thick Royal Folio; text block measures 37 1/2 cm x 24 1/2 cm and is 9-cm thick; re-bound in modern leather over wooden boards (in period stile), spine with raised bands, and a printed paper title-label in top compartment; pastedown renewed but retaining an early front free endpaper.
Pagination: [40], 1104, [12] pages.
Signatures: α-β
6
γ
8
a-z
6
A-Z
6
Aa-Zz
6
aa-zz
6
aaa
6
.
Collated and COMPLETE.
Title-page with a woodcut vignette with lions, a crown and the arms of the Swiss cantons.
Illustrated with numerous (over eighty) woodcuts of animals in text, some full-page, and a large woodcut of the Creation with animals and Adam and Eve on leaf aaa6r. Some illustrations attributed to Dürer (including the rhinoceros on p. 953); most illustrations are by Lukas Schan.
Woodcut historiated and decorative initials, including (at least) one “Dance of Death” initial (on a
1
r) and a large 'Moses And The Brazen Serpent' initial 'V' (on α
2
r).
Text printed in single columns, mainly in roman type, with some use of Greek and Hebrew type (used also for Arabic, Persian and Chaldean words), and Gothic type for German words.
Preliminaries include author's dedication to the Senate of to the City Council of Zurich, his Preface to the Reader; lists of the authors and works used by Gesner in compiling this encyclopedia. indexes of animals' names in various languages, etc.
Paralipomenae
on pp.1097-1104 at the end, followed by the 'additions and corrections' (
Aliae additiones et castigationes
) on the unnumbered leaves aaa
1
r-
5
r. A Greek poem by Henri Estienne on aaa
5
v. Final leaf recto with Greek verses from Empedocles and a large 'Creation' woodcut (verso blank).
Provenance:
Title-page with a possession note of the Jesuit College of Halberstadt (in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany), dated 1630. Another ownership inscription in the bottom margin dated  1582 largely inked out and unreadable.
Several leaves with interesting manuscript marginalia in 16th-century hand, particularly in the chapter on the Deer.
Condition:
Very Good+ antiquarian condition. Complete. Title-page with some very neat (and inconspicuous) marginal repairs at the gutter and at fore-edge (without any loss), and two old ownership inscriptions, one of which has been inked-out. Several leaves with neat early manuscript marginalia (somewhat faded). Occasional minor marginal soiling and very light marginal water-staining to a few leaves. In all, an amazingly well-preserved, clean, solid, genuine example of this magnificent Renaissance zoological encyclopedia, with superb, strong impression of both text and woodcuts, and splendidly wide margins.
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