ORIGINS OF MODERNITY

natural history

Aldrovandi, Ulisse (1522-1605?)
De animalibvs insectis libri septem : cvm singvlorvm iconibvs adviuum expressis.
Bonon : Apud Ioan. Bapt. Bellagambam cum consensu superiorum an., 1602.

Aldrovandi is perhaps the most neglected naturalist of the early modern period. He was a Professor at the University of Bologna. This work is the first systematic work of entomology. It is one of 13 massive volumes on natural history, most of which were published by his students after his death in c. 1605. Aldrovandi worked in the same tradition as the great Renaissance naturalist Gesner (1516-65), but in many respects his works were superior to those of Gesner.