Animal-Vegetable-Mineral

Natural History Illustration

From the John Crerar Collection

An Exhibition in the Department of Special Collections

May 8 - September 20, 1991

The University of Chicago Library zeal to be Introduction complete, however, the writers of The invention of lithography in the Bibliographic Checklist of the Exhibition such authoritative works sometimes fell eighteenth century, and its proliferation in exhibition celebrates the art and century and the beginning of the sixteenth, prey to the temptations of unsubstantiated the nineteenth, made possible an even Thisbeauty of illustrated books in the natu vivid illustrations came to be as integral a legend and myth and included in their wider distribution of illustrated natural Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717). Metamorphosis insectorum surinamensium. Amsterdam: Sumtibus ral sciences. The volumes exhibited are part of a book as its text. New advances in treatises elaborate of books. the and depictions anthropo history Among nobility Konrad von Megenberg (1309-1374). Naturbiich. auctoris [etc.], 1705. drawn from the Crerar Collection of John printing technology brought increasingly morphic plants, fantastic beasts, and magi those in polite society, collecting of natural am Main: Christian Egenolff, 1536. Rare Books in the History of Science and more refined illustrations that augmented cal stones. specimens and creation of cabinets of curi Hendrik van Reede tot Drakestein (1637?- 1 69 1). Dioscorides Pedanius, of Anazarbos. De medicinali Hortus indicus malabaricus. 12 vols. Amsterdam: Medicine, a rich source of illustrated works the written word and with the second half of the sixteenth osities became a fashionable obsession. conveyed grow During materia, libri sex. Lyon: Apud Balthazarem Sumptibus Joannis van Someren [etc.], 1683-1703. in all fields of the natural sciences from the ing accuracy the rapidly expanding knowl century, the introduction of the engraved Seashells, fossils, minerals, plants, birds, Arnolletum, 1550. The Golden Age Of Flower Books fifteenth to the twentieth century. Among edge of the natural world. copper plate brought new accuracy and mammals, fish, and insects filled private Herbarius patavifnusj. Passau: J. C. Petri, 1485. the books included in the exhibition are the of to remarkable detail natural illustra natural collections and served as - Indeed, development printing history history ChristophJacob Trew ( 1 695 1 769). Plantae selectae. some of the most notable treatises in the and the expansion of publishing had a tion. Although artists such as Albrecht Dur- the principal attractions of the earliest [HJortus sanitatis. Mainz: Jacob Meydenbach, 1491. 10 vols, in 1. , 1750-1773. biological and physical sciences as well as galvanizing impact on the study of natural er and Leonardo da Vinci had made effec public museums. The enthusiasms of the Hieronymus Brunschwig (ca. 1450-ca. 1512). The Mark Catesby (1683-1749). The natural history of lesser known but works low-cost tive use of several are reflected in the equally important phenomena. Mass-produced, cop copper plate engraving age many beautifully vertuose boke of distyllacyon of the waters ofall Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands. 2 vols. distinguished ies of scientific decades earlier, it embellished vol maner ofherbes. : Laurens Andrewe, 1527. London: Charles Marsh [etc.], 1754. by the imagi texts in were now became the umes produced be Nature Observed Giorgio Bonelli (b. 1724). Hortus romanus. 8 vols. native use of soon medium of choice widely tween 1750 and : Sumptibus Bouchard et Gravier, 1772-1793. illustration. available, creating for publishers of il 1850, a period of (1488- 1 534). Herbarum vivae eicones. 2 vols, in 1. : Apud Joannem Schottum, Matthieu, chevalier de Bonafous (1793-1852). The selection a growing inter lustrated texts. The ten referred to as 1531-1532. Histoire naturelle, agricole eteconomique du mats. of books pre est in the matter limitations ofwood the golden age of : Madame Huzard [etc.], 1836. sented here is and techniques of cut technologywere natural history illus (1501-1566). De historia stirpium commentariiinsignes. : InOfficinalsingriniana, Antoine Poiteau (1 766- 1854). Pomologiefrangaise. not intended natural history. As overcome as artists tration. 1542. 4 vols. Paris: Langlois et Leclercq, 1846. to be either new scientific dis and illustrators dis The relationship systematic or coveries were covered the excit between art and Pietro Andrea Mattioli (1500-1577). Commentarii Zoology secundo audi, in libros sex Pedacii Dioscoridis comprehen made and of the natural re explor ing potential history Anazarbei De medica materia. : In Officina [HJortus sanitatis. [Strasbourg: J. Priiss, 1498?] sive, butrather ers returned to thinner, more exact mained strong Valgrisiana, 1560. to reflect the with ever ing lines achieved through the end of (1507-1566). Libri depiscibus Pietro Andrea Mattioli (1500-1577). Kreutterbuch. marinis. 2 vols, in 1 . Lyon: Apud Matthiam Bonhomme, breadth of the more fantastic re in the nineteenth cen copper. Frankfurt am Main: Johan Feyrabendt [etc.], 1590. 1554-1555. Crerar Collec ports of the flora Geographical ex tury. For profes Rembert Dodoens historiae Pierre Belon L'histoire de la nature tion and the and fauna of ex ploration and dis sional scientists and (1517-1585). Stirpium (15 17?- 1564). pemptades sex, sive libri XXX. Antwerp: Ex Officina des oyseaux. Paris: Gilles Corrozet, 1555. of im otic illus the amateur naturalists variety lands, covery during Plantiniana [etc.], 1616. ages employed trated books kept seventeenth cen alike, the appeal of Konrad Gesner (1516-1565). Historiae animalium (1545-1612). Theherball; or, Generall liber III. Zurich: Froschoverum, in the devel pace with the de tury spurred popu illustrated natural Apud Christoph. historie ofplantes. London: A. J. J. Norton [etc.], 1555. and opment mand for scientific lar and scientific cu history books lay in 1633. dissemination knowledge. Quick riosity about the their potential to Konrad Gesner (15 16- 1565). Thierbiich. Zurich: John Gerard Theherball; or, Generall Christoffel 1583. of dissemination of natural world. Antoine-Joseph Dezallier d'Argenville. L histoire naturelle eclaircie. an (1545-1612). Froschouwer, knowledge convey alluring historie London: Paris: De Bure l'aine, 1755. ofplantes. John Norton, 1597. in the natural ideas was These travels in turn and Paul de Reneaulme. Specimen historiae plantarum. possible nearly tactile Aldrovandi sciences. Paris: Apud Hadrianum Beys, 1611. for those who revolutionizednatu sensation of the Iacobus Theodorus (d. 1590). Eicones plantarum. Frankfurt am Main: Durch Nicolaum Basseum, 1590. (1522-1605?). Ornithologiae. 3 When the first Western printed books could read, while printed illustrations pro ral history publishing by increasing the physical universe and its inhabitants. As the vols. : Apud Franciscum de Franciscis in the late fifteenth the vided an account nature appeared century, absorbing visual of demand for accurate depictions of natural Renaissance botanist Leonhart Fuchs noted Prosper Alpini (1553-1617). Deplantisaegyptiliber. Senensem [etc.], 1599-1603. animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms for those who could not. phenomena. Newly founded scientific soci in the preface to De historia stirpium Venice: Apud Franciscum de Franciscis Senensem, 1592. Ulisse Aldrovandi (1522-1605?). De reliquis ani- had long been accepted as conventional In the sixteenth century, illustrated natu eties expected scientific precision in the (1543), "Those tilings that are presented to malibus exanguibus libri quatuor. Bologna: Apud divisions ofthe natural order. In the earliest ral histories to on more were com on or began take ambi work of their members, who the eyes and depicted panels paper Dioscorides Pedanius, of Anazarbos. Krauterbuch. Jo. Baptistam Bellagambam, 1606. Frankfurt am Main: 1610. natural history books, this understanding tious and encyclopedic forms. Many scien pelled to engage the most highly skilled become fixed more firmly in the mind than Johann Bringern [etc.], Ulisse Aldrovandi (1522-1605?). De quadrupedi- of the physical world and its creatures was tific authors to encompass in a artists to illustrate their works. the end those that are described in bare words." attempted By Paul de Reneaulme (1 560- 1624). Specimen historiae bus solidipedibus volumen integrum. Bologna: expressed visually as well as textually. single volume a summation of all knowl of the century, books had also grown The illustrated books from the Crerar Col plantarum. Paris: Apud Hadrianum Beys, 1611. Apud Victorium Benatium, 16 16. Konrad von Megenberg's Buck der Natur edge of a given aspect of the natural world. substantially both in size and expense. Folio lection in this exhibition recall the fresh Joseph Pitton de Tournefort (1656-1708). Fishes (1475) and the famous medicinal treatise Otto Brunfel's Herbarium vivae eicones and double folio volumes became increas visual excitement of Fuchs's as well as age, Institutiones reiherbariae. 3 vols. Paris: Typographia Hortus sanitatis (1491) utilized the new (1531-32), Konrad Gesner's Historiae ingly common as publishers rose to the that of successive eras of discovery in the Regia, 1700. Francis Willughby (1635-1672). De historiapiscium technology ofwoodcuts to present a vividly animalium (1555), and Ulisse Aldrovandi's challenge ofaccommodating richly detailed natural sciences, and demonstrate anew libri quatuor. Oxford: E Theatro Sheldoniano, 1686. Flora Beyond Europe of Musaeum metallicum before and colored of birds the ofthe animal, - depicted pharmacopeia vegetable, (written sumptuously images compelling power printed image. Jacob Theodor Klein ( 1 685 1 759)- Historiaepiscium and mineral remedies. As natural history 1605) were three such monumental efforts and plants that were often drawn in full Johannes Commelin (1629-1692). Horti medici naturalis. 5 vols, in 1. Danzig: Litteris Schreiberianis,

Kim and amstelodamensis rariorum. 2 vols in 1 . Amsterdam: texts evolved at the end of the fifteenth to gather, organize, and describe. In their scale directly from nature. Coventry 1740-1749. Daniel Meyer Apud P. & J. Blaeu [etc.], 1697-1701.

(Icy) John Gould (1804-1881). A monograph of the John Hill (17 W-177 5). A general natural history. 3 Ramphastidae, orfamily of toucans. London: The vols. London: Thomas Osborne, 1748-1752. author, 1834. Georg Wolfgang Knorr ( 1 705- 1 76 1 ). Deliciae naturae Reptiles selectae. Nuremberg, 1754.

Albert Seba (1665-1736). Locupletissimi rerum William Borlase( 1695-1 772). The naturalhistory of naturalium thesauri accurata descriptio. 4 vols. Cornwall. Oxford: The author, 1758. Amsterdam: Apud J. Wetstenium [etc.], 1734-1765. Antoine-Joseph Dezallier d'Argenville (1680-1765). August Johann Rosel von Rosenhof (1705-1759). L'histoire naturelle eclaircie. Paris: De Bure l'aine, Historia naturalis ranarum nostratium. Nuremberg: 1755. Johann Joseph Fleischmann, 1758. Jean Baptiste Louis de Rome de l'lsle (1736-1790). Francois Marie Daudin (1774-1804). Histoire Cristallographie. Seconde edition. 4 vols. Paris: naturelle des rainettes, des grenouilles et des Imprimerie de Monsieur, 1783. crapauds. Paris: Levrault, 1802. Philip Rashleigh (1729-181 1). Specimens ofBritish M. le comte de La Cepede (1756-1825) in Buffon, minerals. 2 vols, in 1. London: W. Bulmer, 1797- Histoire naturelle, generate etparticuliere. 44 vols. 1802. Paris: L'Imprimerie Royale, 1749-1804. James Sowerby (1757-1822). British mineralogy. 5 Mammals vols. London: R. Taylor [etc.], 1804-1817.

Georg Wolfgang Knorr (1705-1761). Deliciae naturae Landforms selectae. 2 vols. Dordrecht: Abraham Blusse en zoon, 1771. Athanasius Kircher (1602- 1680). Mundus subterraneus. 2 vols, in 1. Amsterdam: Apudjoannem John Edward Gray (1800-1875). Gleaningsfrom the Janssonium [etc.], 1665. menagerie and aviary atKnowsley Hall. Knowsley, 1846. Robert Hooke( 1635-1 703). Theposthumous works. London: Sam. Smith [etc.], 1705. Conchology Encyclopedic methodique. Geographie-physique. George Perry. Conchology. London: W. Miller, 1811. Anselme-Gaetan Desmarest, ed. 6 vols. Paris: H. Agasse, 1794-1828. Georg Wolfgang Knorr ( 1 705- 1 76 1). Deliciae naturae selectae. 2 vols. Dordrecht: Abraham Blusse en zoon, Louis Agassiz (1807-1873). Etudes sur les glaciers. 1771. 2 vols. Neuchatel: Jent et Gassmann, 1840.

Filippo Buonanni (1638-1725). Ricreatione Mining dell'occhio e della mente nellosservation' delle chiocciole. 2 vols. Rome: Per il Varese, 1681. Georg Agricola (1494- 1555). VomBergkwerck. Basel: Jeronymus Froben [etc.], 1557. Martin Lister (1638?-1712). Historiae, sive synopsis methodicae conchyliorum. 6 vols, in 1. London: Lazarus Ercker (d. 1594). Aula subterranea. Frank Georg Eberhard Rumpf. D'amboinsche rariteitkamer. Amsterdam: Jan Roman de Jonge, 1741. Sumptibus authoris, 1685-1692. furt: Johann David Zunners, 1672. Georg Eberhard Rumpf (1627-1702). Thesaurus Birds Georg Eberhard Rumpf (1627-1 702). D'amboinsche George Ferdinand Becker (b. 1847). the imaginum piscium testaceorum. Leiden: Apud Geology of rariteitkamer. Amsterdam: Jan Roman de Jonge, Comstock lode and the Washoe district. 2 vols. Petrum van der Aa, 1711. George Edwards (1694-1773). A natural history of 1741. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1882. uncommon birds. 4 vols, in 2. London: The author, Peder Ascanius (1723-1803). Icones rerum 1743-1751. Niccolo Gualtieri (1688-1744). Index testarum Samuel Franklin Emmons 1 84 1 - 1 9 1 1 and naturalium. 4 vols, in 1. Copenhagen: CI. Philibert, ( ). Geology conchyliorum. Florence: Ex Typographia Caietani mining industry of Leadville, Colorado. 2 vols. 1772-1777. George Edwards (1694-1773). Gleanings ofnatural Albizzini, 1742. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1883-1886. history. 3 vols, in 2. London: The author, 1 758- 1 764. Insects Ores And Crystals Fossils Georges Louis Leclerc, comte de Buffon (1707- Eleazar Albin (fl. 1713-1759)- A natural history of 1 788). Histoire naturelle des oiseaux. 1 0 vols. Paris: [HJortus sanitatis. 1538. Johann Jakob Scheuchzer (1672-1733). Herbarium English insects. London: The author, 1720. L'Imprimerie Royale, 1770-1786. diluvianum. Editio novissima. Leiden: Sumptibus Konrad Gesner (1516-1565). De omni rerum Petri van der Aa, 1723. Dru Drury (1725-1803). Illustrations of natural John Latham (1740-1837). A general synopsis of fossilium genere. 8 vols, in 1. Zurich: Jacobus history. 3 vols. London: B. White, 1770-1782. birds. Supplement. 2 vols. London: Leigh, Sotheby & Gesnerus, 1565-1566. Gotthelf Fischer von Waldheim (1771-1853). son, 1787-1802. Oryctographie du de Moscou. Mos Moses Harris (1731?- 1785?). /Ira exposition ofEng gouvernement Ulisse Aldrovandi (1522-1605?). Musaeum cow: Auguste Semen, 1830-1837. lish insects. London: White [etc.], 1782. Daniel Giraud Elliot (1835-1915M monograph of metallicum. Bologna: Typis Jo. Baptistae Ferronii, the Bucerotidae, orfamily ofthe hornbills. London: 1648. Francois Jules Pictet Materiaux Encyclopedic methodique. Histoire naturelle des The author, 1882. (1809-1872). pour la Suisse. vols, in 7. Geneva: animaux. Pierre Bonnaterre, ed. 12 vols. Paris: paleontologie 9 J. Lazarus Ercker (d. 1594). Fleta minor. 2 vols, in 1. Kessmann, 1855-1872. Panckoucke [etc.], 1782-1825. Francois Le Vaillant (1 753- 1824). Histoire naturelle London: John Pettus, 1683. des oiseaux de paradis etdes rolliers. 2 vols. Paris: Richard Owen (1804-1892). A the Denne le jeune, 1806. monograph of fossil Reptilia ofthe Liassicformations. 3 vols in 1. Cover illustration: Rosel von Rosenhof. Historia August Johann naturalis ranarum nostratium. Nuremberg: Johann Joseph Fleischmann, 1758. London: Palaeontographical Society, 1861-1881.