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ALDROVANDI, Ulyssis.
De quadrupedibus solipedibus
Bologna, typis Jo. Baptistae Ferronii, sumptibus Marci Antonii Berniae, apud Nicolaum Thebaldinum. 1649-48.
£3750.00
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Folio, pp. (vi) 495 (xxix) lacking blank prelims, Roman letter, some Italic and Greek. Title within splendid engraved architectural border by the Bolognese artist Jo. Baptista Coriolanus, arms of Cardinal Julio Succhetto, the dedicatee, at head; horse, zebra, unicorn, elephant etc at foot, twelve large illustrations in text, mainly of horses but including others of their family such as the rhinocerous,elephant and centaur, woodcut initials and head and tailpieces. A few ll. a bit yellowed, a very good, clean copy in a Rospigliosi Roman binding of contemp. Turkey morocco, boards double-panelled gilt, large gilt lacework circle at centre of covers, ornate ornaments to corners, spine and label gilt. Frederick Huth's copy, his armorial bookplate on pastedown, presentation bookplate to Bath Public Library (1903) beneath. One of the 12 great zoological works of the Bolognese scholar Ulyssis Aldrovandi (1522-1605), 8 of which were published posthumously. Aldrovandi was such a successful teacher of natural history at Bologna that he aroused widespread interest in the systematic study of all sorts of fauna; his lectures were thronged and he was declared a full professor at the vigorous request of his students. Aldrovandi's first love however was not teaching but research. He mounted expeditions (often with his pupils) all over Italy to find fossils and unusual specimens of all kinds for the museum he established and the results of his study and travels were incorporated in his great series of volumes, underwritten by Pope Gregory XIII. The present work (and two others) were first edited for the press by Cornelius Uterreer of Delff who was Aldrovandi's successor at Bologna, and this reedited by Marcus Antonius Bernia.
After a very brief introduction, the first 294 pp. are devoted to the horse, all its physical and mental characteristics, its scientific genus and different types, its various uses and its appearances in literature and art. It deals also with the care of the horse in health and disease, its food, breeding, likes and dislikes. The virtues of all sorts or riding are discussed. The treatment is encyclopaedic - everything from equine anatomy and reproduction to games and hunting, to equine symbology and the horse in myth, is covered, with extensive reference to sources. The horse pictures include the bizarre (one with a woman's face and another with human forefeet) and the merely unusual e.g. one charger dressed up in full C16 party kit of slashed multicolour hose and jacket, presumably to match its colourful rider. In the remainder of the book the same treatment is then more briefly afforded to the other members of the horse family - including the monocerous or unicorn, properly so-called. A very handsome, attractive and interesting book.
BMC C17 It. p. 15. Mennesier de la Lance I pp.11-12.
L1017
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