One of the Earliest Monographs on Fish

Argentorati [Strasbourg]: excudebat Iacobus Cammerlander Moguntinus, Anno m.d.xxxiiii. Mense Februario [February 1534]. 212 x 147 mm (8 ⅜ x 5 ¾ in). Quarto. [4], 152 ll. In Latin. Verso of final leaf with the large woodcut printer’s device (lovely image of a winged and blindfolded Fortune).

Bound in modern (19^th century?) red calf stained dark red. 

Very good. Binding lightly cocked. Final 45 leaves with an old water stain and minor worming at blank bottom margin, and some soiling to a few final leaves at blank outer margin. 

Ichthyological knowledge of the 16^th century. One of the earliest monographs exclusively about fish, it contains most of the ichthyological knowledge of the early Christian era. This is the collective first edition. The text is in three parts. First is the second Latin translation of Oppian’s Halieutica, a long poem on fishing; second is Pliny’s book 9 and book 32, both relating to fish; and third is Paolo Giovio’s text on fish. All edited for the first time by the physician and philosopher Johannes Caesarius (1460–1551). An exceedingly complete and diverse list of topics are covered: mating, breeding, fighting, hooks, and nets, etcetera. All sorts of aquatic creatures are covered including whales, dolphins, salmons, eels, crabs, shells, starfishes, etcetera. The four-page index lists a plethora of then known fish. There is also a section concentrating on the pharmaceutical use of fish. Little is known about Oppian, who flourished during the reign of Marcus Aurelius (ad 161–180) and died at the early age of thirty.

USTC 679743

VD16 o 803