Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 14

ARISTOTELES (384 B.C.-322 B.C.) De natura animalium. De partibus animalium. De generatione animalium. Bartholomaeus de Zanis, for Octavianus Scotus 1498 [6] 89 ll., woodcuts: initials, publisher's device. 31.7 cm.

So great was the influence of Aristotle that his teachings and thought were accepted and enlarged upon for nearly two millenia. He was acquainted with more than five hundred species of animals and had dissected and investigated in detail at least fifty kinds, ranging over the entire animal kingdom. Despite the fact that many of his conclusions now appear fanciful and primitive, others have stood the test of time. Among them may be mentioned his descriptions of the mechanisms of locomotion, of the process of digestion in ruminants, of the habits of bees, of the mechanism of animal reproduction; his exposition of analogous structures in living bodies; and his methods of biological classification. The works included in this volume constitute three of Aristotle's five principal works on biology. They are here presented in the Latin translation of Theodorus Gaza (1398-1478). The first page of this incunable is decorated with a handsome illuminated border and capital initial, the colors remarkably preserved.

Cited references: GKW 2353; Goff A 976; Hain-Copinger 1703; Klebs 85.4; Wellcome 427

Gift of John Martin, M.D.