ALDROVANDI

FINE RARE ORIGINAL WOODCUT ENGRAVING  

THE TURBOT

(Rhombus aculeatus)

1638

This very decorative and extremely rare woodcut engraving of a starry pufferfish is from Aldrovandi’s exceptional volume on fishes, whales and sea monsters, “De Piscibus libri V”, published in Bologna, Italy, in 1638 

Ulisse Aldrovandi (1522-1605) was a highly celebrated professor of natural history at the University of Bologna, and one of the world’s great encyclopedists who devoted his life, and his money, to lecturing, collecting specimens and writing and illustrating numerous treatises on biological and zoological subjects

For this great work, Aldrovandi copied illustrations from the key Renaissance fish authors, Belon, Rondelet, Salviani, and his one-time tutor, Conrad Gesner

He also added his own unique and sometimes fanciful illustrations of species mainly from the seas of the Mediterranean, including the Adriatic, and others 

from more distant shores

Aldrovandi, a self-confessed beachcomber, had many friends and employed assistants who constantly scoured the fish markets, docks, and coastlines to locate new specimens to add to his collection

These beautiful and extraordinary woodcut engravings greatly influenced succeeding illustrated zoological works and were copied extensively by such authors as Merian & Jonson

(Ref, Paula Findlen, Possessing Nature: Museums, Collecting and Scientific Culture in Early Modern Italy 1996, p. 160 -77; Pietsch, Cuvier - Historical Portrait of the Progress of Ichthyology 1995, p. 46; S. Peter Dance & Geoffrey N. Swinney Classic Natural History Prints; Fish. London, 1990, p. 23-25; Wood; Vertebrate Zoology p. 184 - 185; Allen p. 403 - 405)

size: 22.5 x 34.5 cm x 9 x 13 ½ inches approx.

Watermarks are not on the original prints 

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You can be sure of owning an original print that is beautifully produced and is also a good investment 

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