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{{Short description|16th century zoology book by Conrad Gessner}}
{{Italic title}}
[[File:Illustrations de Icones animalium quadrupedum viviparorum et oviparorum, Tigre et léopard.jpg|thumb|Tiger and leopard, Book 1:''Viviparous Quadrupeds'']]
'''''{{Lang|la|Historia animalium''}}''' ("History of the Animals"), published atin [[Zurich]] in 1551–1558 and 1587, is an encyclopedic "inventory of renaissance zoology" by [[Conrad Gessner]] (1516–1565). Gessner was a medical doctor and professor at the [[Carolinum, Zürich|Carolinum in Zürich]], the precursor of the [[University of Zurich]]. The ''{{Lang|la|Historia animalium}}, after [[History of Animals|Aristotle''s work]] of the same name, is the first modern [[zoological]] work that attempts to describe all the animals known, and the first [[bibliography]] of natural history writings. The five volumes of [[natural history]] of animals cover more than 4500 pages.<ref name="cambridge1">{{cite web|url=http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/old_site/deptserv/rarebooks/gesner.html|title=Featured book archive: Historia animalium libri I-IV. Cum iconibus. Lib. I. De quadrupedibus uiuiparis. Zurich: C. Froschauer, 1551. N*.1.19(A)|publisher=Cambridge University Library|access-date=29 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190113232118/http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/old_site/deptserv/rarebooks/gesner.html|archive-date=13 January 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref> The animals are presented in [[alphabetical order]], marking the change from Middle Ages encyclopedias, or "mirrors" to a modern view of a consultation work.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Flanders |first=Judith |title=A place for everything: the curious history of alphabetical order |date=2020 |publisher=Basic Books |isbn=978-1-5416-7507-0 |edition=1st |location=New York |page=}}</ref>{{pn|date=June 2024}}
 
== Overview ==
 
[[File:HistoriaeViviparous animaliumQuadropeds 1551- DeBook Monocerote1.jpg|thumb|[[Unicorn]]right|Hunting dogs, Book 1]]
[[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>▼
 
▲[[File:ViviparousThe Quadropeds - Book 1.jpg{{Lang|thumbla|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>
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"/>▼
 
▲Gessner's ''{{Lang|la|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"/>
 
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"/>
 
''{{Lang|la|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/>
 
== 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/>▼
 
[[File:Historiae Animalium at The Portico Library.jpg|alt=Fantastical creatures in a historic book, Historiae Animalium by Conrad Gessner|thumb|upright=1.2|Fantastical creatures in a copy of ''[[Historia Animalium]]'' at [[The Portico Library]], United Kingdom. ]]
▲There have been various academic studies relating to Gessner's inclusion of some fantastical-looking creatures in the volumes, such as the [[sea monk]], [[sea bishop]], or [[ichthyocentaur]].<ref name=hendrikx/><ref name=wehner/>
 
Gessner was aware of fakery in the curio shops market, where dried rays were manipulated to look like dragons (for example [[Jenny Haniver]]s).{{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}}
 
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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==
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== Censorship ==
 
There was [[Reformation|extreme religious tension]] at the time ''{{Lang|la|Historia animalium''}} came out. Under [[Pope Paul IV]] it was felt that the religious convictions of an author contaminated all his writings,<ref>Schmitt, p. 46,</ref> and as Gessner was a [[Protestant]], it was added to the Catholic Church's [[Index Librorum Prohibitorum|list of prohibited books]].<ref name ="Gessner2"/>
 
==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}} {{jstorJSTOR|15490}}
* {{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==
{{Commons category|Historiae Animalium}}
*[https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/136746#page/7/mode/1up ''HistoriaConradi Gesneri Medici Tigurini Historiae Animalium Liberliber primus. De Quadrupedibus Primumviviparis'']
*[https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/210109#page/35/mode/1up ''HistoriaHistoriae Animalium LiverLiber IV. Qui est de Piscium et Aquatilium animantium natura'']
 
{{History of biology}}
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[[Category:1551 in science]]
[[Category:1587 in science]]
[[Category:16th century in sciencebiology]]
[[Category:16th-century encyclopedias]]
[[Category:16th-century Latin books in Latin]]
[[Category:Books by Conrad Gessner]]
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