Historia animalium (Gessner book): Difference between revisions

'''{{Lang|la|Historia animalium}}''' ("History of the Animals"), published in [[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|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}}