Piso, Willem, (1611-1678) and Marggraf, Georg, (1610-1644). Historia naturalis Brasiliae ... in qua non tantum plantae et animalia sed et indigenarum morbi, ingenia et mores describuntur / [Guilielmi Pisonis et Georgi Marcgraui; cum appendice... Ioannes de Laet]. Lugduni Batauorum : apud Franciscum Hackium; : apud Lud. Elzevirium, 1648

[12], 122, [10], 293, [7] p. : il. ; 2º. Catalogue references: *6, A-P4, Q2, (+), A-Z, Aa- Oo4, Pp2. Copperplate engraving on frontispiece. Engravings throughout text, all woodcuts. Illustrated with decorative initials and friezes.

Parchment binding. Old catalogue references: P 514 ; 196/2/2

This is the first edition of Historia naturalis Brasiliae , a book on the natural history of Brazil, made during the Dutch occupation of Brazil (1630-1654), known as , or New Holland. At that time, the Dutch East Indies Company governed the northeast coast of Brazil (currently Pernambuco) and controlled the sugar trade and the slave trade. The governor general of New Holland, Johan Maurits de Nassau (1604- 1679), sent a group of 46 scientists, artists and craftsman to the colony to observe the flora, fauna and local inhabitants and complete an in-situ study. The two authors of this first edition were members of the group. joined the group as a physicist and George Marggraf served as a naturalist, astronomer and cartographer. The two men worked together with the artists and , who made many of the illustrations for the book.

The typographical title page that follows the engraved frontispiece states the content of the book and lists its authors. The first part of the book, which was written by Willem Piso, contains four sections on tropical medicine. The second part, by Georg Marggraf, contains eight sections on natural history (i.e., botany, zoology, geography and ethnography). In addition, there is an appendix by . De Laet was also responsible for editing the manuscripts of Piso and Marggraf and that was particularly significant because Marggraf died in Angola four years prior to the publication of the work. In 1658, a second version of Historia naturalis Brasiliae was published.

The terminology used in the book’s descriptions of botany, zoology and the natural sciences served as a foundation for the designation of species adopted by the renowned Swedish naturalist (1707-1778) in his work on taxonomy.

The book contains the first descriptions of a number of tropical diseases and the remedies used by the indigenous peoples to combat them.

Marggraf’s studies also appear in the cartographic work of Kaspar von Baerle, Rerum in Brasilia et alibi gestarum, published in 1647.

In the field of ethnography, the book contains descriptions of local Amerindian races, including features such as their appearance, customs, material culture, diet, language and religion.

Historia naturalis Brasiliae provided new information to its European audience, thus gaining the work a highly favourable reception and quick circulation. An example of its success was the fact that King John IV of Portugal requested a copy only a few weeks after its publication. The work remained a leading source of knowledge in the study of Brazil’s natural history until the early nineteenth century, when it was superseded in part by the studies of Johann Baptist von Spix and Carl Friederich Philipp von Martius.

The book contains numerous woodcut illustrations of plants and animals. Many had never been depicted before. The woodcuts also depicted local indigenous peoples.

The specimen in the UB’s Rare Book and Manuscript Library comes from the convent of Sant Josep in Barcelona. The title page features an incomplete handwritten bookplate “S. Josef”. The book has also been located in the catalogue of the library of the convent of Sant Josep, which appears in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library under the reference P 514; the letter P is still visible on the spine. This specimen of Historia naturalis Brasiliae underwent restoration in 1999.

(IO)