#konrad gesner

[smithsonianlibrariesarchives]

Happy Gesner Day!

The creator of the foundational texts of zoology was born on this date, March 26, in 1516.

Since these encyclopedic works that compiled descriptions of all known animals included a little cryptozoology, too, we thought it might be ok to demonstrate our excitement with a unicorn vomiting a rainbow. Gesner tried to distinguish fact from fiction through direct observation—an important step in establishing science as a discipline. But there are still plenty of entries for mythical beasts.  

Now that we have your attention, go check out Icones animalium quadrupedum uiuiparorum et ouiparorum (1560) in our digital library, and see many more titles in the @biodivlibrary. 

There should be plenty of posts with #GesnerDay on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, too, so please search #GesnerDay on your platform of choice and join in on the fun!

[biodivlibrary]

#GesnerDay!

Mark your calendars for March 24 at 1:30PM ET for a Facebook Live tour of Conrad Gesner’s books in @smithsonianlibraries! March 26 marks the 501st birthday of Conrad Gesner (March 26, 1516 - December 13, 1565), a Swiss naturalist and physician who is considered to be one of the founders of modern day zoology. His classic work Histora Animalium is a catalog of Renaissance zoology, and you can view this work in BHL with thanks to Smithsonian Libraries for digitizing. Be sure to join us on our Facebook page!

[beoshewulf]

(2 of 2) An assortment of creatures from Edward Topsel’s History of Four-footed Beasts and Serpents, which he wrote in 1607 and 1608, but which wasn’t published until 1658. Most of the book’s illustrations were done by Konrad Gesner, a Swiss scholar. These are my favourites! You can look through the entire book here: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/topsell-s-history-of-four-footed-beasts-and-serpents-1658

[beoshewulf]

An assortment of creatures from Edward Topsel’s History of Four-footed Beasts and Serpents, which he wrote in 1607 and 1608, but which wasn’t published until 1658. Most of the book’s illustrations were done by Konrad Gesner, a Swiss scholar. These are my favourites! You can look through the entire book here: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/topsell-s-history-of-four-footed-beasts-and-serpents-1658 (1 of 2)

[elifayiter]

Porcupine, from Konrad Gesner, Historia Animalium, 1551.

http://darwin.lindahall.org/3_gesner_a.shtml

[magictransistor]

Conrad Gesner's Historiae Animalium, Zürich, 1551-1587.

[hassieholmes]

[biomedicalephemera]

No, really, Konrad Gesner's Monkey suuuper wants to know about that HILARIOUS thing your BFF did at the club last night, before she woke up in the park, under a bench!