Ulysse Aldrovandi, 1606

ALDROVANDI, Ulysse (1522-1605). De reliquis animalibus exanguibus libri quatuor. Edited by Francesca Aldrovandi. Bologna: Giovanni Battista Bellagamba, 1606 [colophon 1605].

A fine, crisp copy, with the portrait, of Aldrovandi's illustrated treatise on mollusks, crustaceans, and zoophytes—one of the earliest works devoted almost entirely to shells. Part of Aldrovandi's massive zoological encyclopedia, this was the largest assembly of conchological illustrations and descriptions to date, largely based on Aldrovandi's famous cabinet of specimens. It was edited and published posthumously by his wife Francesca, who also directed the museum (built with her dowry) for the next ten years. Many of the original woodblocks and drawings still survive at the Aldrovandi Museum at the University of Bologna. Nissen ZBI 68.

Folio (355 x 239mm). Engraved title and engraved portrait of Aldrovandi after Caracci, large woodcut illustrations throughout, many full-page (title page with two large chips repaired at edges, occasional spotting, a few small paper flaws). 18th-century vellum, edges red. Provenance: Biblioteca Castiglioni, Milan (bookplate, c. 1760) – S. Crucis in Jerusalem (partial stamp on dedication leaf).

Please note that the portrait leaf is trimmed and mounted on new paper.