RONDELET (Guillaume). La Premiere [-seconde] partie de l'his - Lot 25

RONDELET (Guillaume). La Premiere [-seconde] partie de l'histoire entiere des poissons [...]. Avec leurs pourtraits au naïf. A Lion, par Macé Bonhome, 1558. 2 volumes in one large in-4, havana morocco, ribbed spine with garnet-red title, triple gilded fillet framing the covers with gilded corner finials, filleted edges, inner gilded roulette, gilded edges (18th century binding). (4)-418-(14 of which the last blank)-(4)-181-(one blank) pp. 6 introductory pages missing from the first volume and 5 appendix pages missing from the second; the title page of the first volume replaced by the title page of the second volume from another copy, with cut, and doubled; the second page of the first volume also from another copy of the second volume; binding a little worn and stained with small leather loss at tail of spine. FIRST EDITION OF THE FRENCH TRANSLATION, probably by a pupil of Guillaume Rondelet, Laurent Joubert, whose poems are printed here. The work had originally appeared in Latin with the same publisher in 1554, illustrated with the same woodcuts as here. IMPORTANT WOOD ENGRAVED ILLUSTRATION IN TEXT: approx. 420 zoological vignettes; typographical mark by Macé Bonhomme and portrait of the author (in the second volume); fine typographical ornamentation (Nissen, ZBI, no. 3475). Baudrier attributes the drawing of the portrait to Pierre Vase and those of the animals to the Italian Giorgio Reverdi (Bibliographie lyonnaise, t. X, p. 259). THE MOST COMPLETE ICHTHYOLOGICAL CATALOG OF HIS TIME. Although he borrowed much of his material from ancient authors, notably Aristotle, Rondelet integrated the fruit of his own research and experience, complementing and sometimes correcting his predecessors. After a general development on the anatomy and habits of aquatic animals (including mammals, cephalopods, crustaceans and shellfish), he drew up the largest illustrated catalog to date, with over 300 species, particularly precise for the fauna of Languedoc. It also includes descriptions of the manatee and sperm whale for the first time, as well as the first engraved representations of the torpedo and sea urchin. Thanks to the scope and quality of his work, and his critical respect for classical authorities, Rondelet remained the benchmark in ichthyology for a century. PIONEER OF ICHTYOLOGY, GREAT MEDICINAL AND FRIEND OF RABELAIS, GUILLAUME RONDELET (1507-1566) was a native of Montpellier. After completing his humanities in Paris (1525), he studied medicine and anatomy in Paris and, above all, in Montpellier, where he obtained his doctorate in 1537, while practicing medicine intermittently in various towns. He became professor of his discipline at the University of Montpellier (where he was chancellor from 1556), and enjoyed a reputation that attracted students from all over Europe, including Aldrovandi, Bauhin, Gesner, L'Écluse... Passionate about aquatic life, he made numerous scientific observations in his native region and during the travels of Cardinal de Tournon, in whose service he remained employed for a time in the 1540s. In Montpellier, Rondelet had made friends with Rabelais, who portrayed him in the Tiers livre as Doctor Rondibilis. Provenance: the physician, naturalist, chemist and political activist François-Vincent Raspail (bookplate stamp).