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{{Short description|16th century
{{Italic title}}
[[File:Illustrations de Icones animalium quadrupedum viviparorum et oviparorum, Tigre et léopard.jpg|thumb|Tiger and leopard, Book 1:''Viviparous Quadrupeds'']]
'''
== Overview ==
[[File:
[[File:Viviparous Quadropeds - Book 1.jpg|thumb|right|Hunting dogs, Book 1]]The ''Historia animalium'' was Gessner's [[Masterpiece|magnum opus]], and was the most widely read of all the Renaissance natural histories. The generously illustrated work was so popular that Gessner's abridgement, ''Thierbuch'' ("Animal Book"), was published in Zurich in 1563, and in England [[Edward Topsell]] translated and condensed it as a ''Historie of foure-footed beastes'' (London: [[William Jaggard]], 1607).<ref name ="cambridge1"/> Gessner’s monumental work attempts to build a connection between the ancient knowledge of the animal world, its title the same as [[Aristotle]]'s work on animals, and what was known at his time. He then adds his own observations, and those of his correspondents, in an attempt to formulate a comprehensive description of the [[natural history]] of animals.<ref name=Huxley>Huxley, 2007. Pages 71–75</ref>▼
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Gessner’s ''Historia animalium'' is based on [[Classical Literature|classical sources]]. It is compiled from ancient and medieval texts, including the inherited knowledge of ancient naturalists like [[Aristotle]], [[Pliny the Elder]],<ref name ="cambridge1"/> and [[Claudius Aelianus|Aelian]].<ref name=Huxley/> Gessner was known as "the Swiss Pliny."<ref name="Gessner2">{{cite web|url= http://www.strangescience.net/Gessner.htm|title= Conran Gessner biography|access-date= 2008-09-17}}{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> For information he relied heavily on the ''[[Physiologus]]''.<ref name ="Gessner2"/> ▼
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In his larger works Gessner sought to distinguish fact from myth and popular misconceptions,{{sfn|Pettitt|2014}} and so his encyclopedic work included both extinct creatures and newly discovered animals of the [[East Indies]], those of the [[Northern Europe|far north]] and animals brought back from the [[New World]]. The work included extensive information on [[mammals]], [[birds]], [[fish]], and [[reptiles]]. It described in detail their daily habits and movements. It also included their uses in [[medicine]] and [[nutrition]].<ref name ="cambridge1"/> ▼
▲In his larger works Gessner sought to distinguish fact from myth and popular misconceptions,{{sfn|Pettitt|2014}} and so his encyclopedic work included both extinct creatures and newly discovered animals of the [[East Indies]], those of the [[Northern Europe|far north]] and animals brought back from the [[New World]]. The work included extensive information on [[mammals]], [[birds]], [[fish]], and [[reptiles]]. It described in detail their daily habits and movements. It also included their uses in [[medicine]] and [[nutrition]].<ref name ="cambridge1"/>
''Historia animalium'' showed the animals' places in [[history]], [[literature]] and [[art]]. Sections of each chapter detailed the animal and its attributes, in the tradition of the [[emblem book]]. Gessner's work included facts in different languages such as the names of the animals.<ref name=Anzovin/>▼
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== Fantastical creatures ==
[[File:Historiae animalium 1551 De Monocerote.jpg|thumb|[[Unicorn]] ]]
There have been various academic studies relating to Gessner's inclusion of some fantastical-looking creatures in the volumes, such as [[sea monk]], [[sea bishop]], or [[ichthyocentaur]].<ref name=hendrikx/><ref name=wehner/>▼
▲There have been various academic studies relating to Gessner's inclusion of
Gessner was aware of fakery in the curio shops market, where dried rays were manipulated to look like dragons ([[Jenny Hanivers]]).{{sfnp|Gudger|1934|pp=516–517}} There may have also been fake mermaid-like creatures being imported from China by the Dutch.{{sfnp|Gudger|1934|p=512}}▼
▲Gessner was aware of fakery in the curio shops market, where dried rays were manipulated to look like dragons (for example [[Jenny
Also, commercial interests may also have motivated publishers or authors such as Gessner to include such creatures to boost sales.<ref name="hendrikx" /> But Gessner was known for meticulously checking facts, and it has been suggested that publishers may have interpolated material when Gessner was in no condition to gainsay them, since the author was already morbidly ill by the time of these publications.<ref name="wehner" /> In fact there is the example of the Su of Patagonia, posthumously inserted in the 1603 Frankfurt edition.<ref name="wehner" />
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* Volume 1: [[Live-bearing]] [[four-footed animals]] (viviparous quadrupeds) (1551).
* Volume 2: [[Egg-laying]] (oviparous) quadrupeds ([[reptiles]] and [[amphibia]]) (1554).
* Volume 3: [[Birds]] (1555).
* Volume 4: [[Fish]] and [[aquatic animals]] (1558).
* Volume 5: [[Snake]]s and [[scorpion]]s (incomplete, published [[posthumous book|posthumously]] 1587).{{sfn|Pettitt|2014}}
==Illustrations==
[[File:Rhinoceros in Gesner's 1551 Historiae animalium.jpg|thumb|Gessner's copy of ''[[Dürer's Rhinoceros]]'']]
The colored [[woodcut]] illustrations were the first real attempts to represent animals in their natural environment. It is the first book to illustrate [[fossil]]s.<ref name=Anzovin>Anzovin, p. 366 item 5210 ''The first fossil illustrations were contained in the Historia animalium, published in 1551 by Swiss physician and naturalist Conrad von Gessner.''</ref><ref>Tallack, Peter, ''The Science Book'', Sterling Publishing Company, 2006, {{ISBN|1-84188-254-2}}, p. 46 ''Gessner’s classical training taught him to give pride of place to naming and classifying the fossils he described. Most importantly, he was concerned with precise identification. His book was the first to present fossil illustrations so students may more easily recognize objects that cannot be very clearly described in words.''</ref>
Gessner acknowledges one of his main illustrators was [[Lucas Schan]],<ref name=Kusukawa2010>{{cite journal |last1=Kusukawa |first1=S. |title=The sources of Gessner's pictures for the Historia animalium |journal=Annals of Science |date=July 2010 |volume=67 |issue=3 |pages=303–328 |url=http://www.rhinoresourcecenter.com/pdf_files/128/1286404337.pdf |doi=10.1080/00033790.2010.488899|pmid=20853813 |s2cid=27904499 }}</ref> an artist from [[Strasbourg]]. He likely used other illustrators as well as himself;<ref name ="Gessner2"/> the book is however famous for copying illustrations from other sources, including ''[[Durer's Rhinoceros]]'' from a well-known 1515 [[woodcut]].<ref name=Huxley/> Gessner's natural history was unusual for sixteenth century readers in providing illustrations.<ref name ="Gessner2"/>
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== Censorship ==
There was [[Reformation|extreme religious tension]] at the time
==References==
{{reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name=hendrikx>{{cite journal|last=Hendrikx |first=Sophia |author-link=<!-- Sophia Hendrikx --> |title=Monstrosities from the Sea. Taxonomy and tradition in Conrad Gessner's (1516-1565) discussion of cetaceans and sea-monsters |journal=Anthropozoologica |year=2018 |volume=53 |issue=11 |url=http://sciencepress.mnhn.fr/en/periodiques/anthropozoologica/53/11 |pages=133–134<!--125–137-->|doi=10.5252/anthropozoologica2018v53a11 |s2cid=54212091 |hdl=1887/67726 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>
<ref name=wehner>{{cite book|last1=Ursula Wehner |first1=Peggy |author-link1=<!--Ursula Wehner--> |last2=Zierau |first2=Wolfgang |author-link2=<!--Wolfgang Zierau--> |last3=Arditti |first3=Joseph |author-link3=<!--Joseph Arditti--> |title=Germanicus and Plinius Indicus: Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century Descriptions and Illustrations of Orchid "Trash Baskets", Resupination, Seeds, Floral Segments and Flower Senescence in the European Botanical Literature in Orchid Biology: Reviews and Perspectives |work=Orchid Biology VIII: Reviews and Perspectives |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |year=2013 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kyLtCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA43 |pages=42–44 |isbn=978-9-401-72500-2}}</ref>
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* {{cite book |last=Gmelig-Nijboer |first=Caroline Aleid |title=Conrad Gessner's 'Historia animalium': an inventory of renaissance zoology|publisher=Meppel |year=1977 }}
* {{cite book |last=Gessner |first=Conrad |author-link=Conrad Gessner |title=Curious Woodcuts of Fanciful and Real Beasts - A Selection of 190 Sixteenth-century Woodcuts from Gessner's and Topsell's Natural Histories |publisher=Dover Publications |year=1971 |isbn=04862270-1-4 |display-authors=etal}}
*{{cite journal|last=Gudger |first=E. W. |author-link=<!-- Eugene Willis Gudger --> |title=Jenny Hanivers, Dragons and Basilisks in the Old Natural History Books and in Modern Times |journal=The Scientific Monthly |volume=38 |issue=6 |year=<!--Jun.-->1934 |pages=511–523}} {{
* {{cite book |last=Huxley |first=Robert |title=The Great Naturalists |publisher=Thames & Hudson |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-500-25139-3 |display-authors=etal}}
* {{cite book |last=Jardine |first=Secord |title=Cultures of Natural History|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1996 |isbn=0-521-55894-8 |display-authors=etal}}
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==External links==
{{
*[https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/136746#page/7/mode/1up ''
*[https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/210109#page/
{{History of biology}}
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[[Category:1551 in science]]
[[Category:1587 in science]]
[[Category:16th century in
[[Category:16th-century encyclopedias]]
[[Category:16th-century
[[Category:Books by Conrad Gessner]]
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