Claudii Aeliani, De historia animalium by [Aelianus, Claudius, praenestinus] - 1616

Coloniae Allobrogum [Geneva]: [no publisher], 1616. Contemporary full calf, spine with 3 raised bands, making four blind ruled compartments, remains of paper label in 2nd and lower compartments, blind ruled borders to both sides. . Inside is remarkably clean although the title page is dusty. The fly leaves are browned at the edges and one at the front has corners missing. Both free endpapers have been cut off to leave 15 mm stumps. Both paste downs are missing and they leave exposed the neatly pasted down edges of the calf. Also, back and front, at each of these openings are the ends of the three vellum ties that form the raisedbands and which have, over the centuries, held this unusually shaped book, (Small ,but with over 1000 pages,very thick) strongly together. In very good original condition.. 117 x 76mm, 52mm thick, pp. [viii],1018, [94]index or ff4, a-z, A-Z, aa-zz, (in eights) and finally AA (4 leaves).The text is printed in Latin and Greek parallel text throughout, title in Greek on titlepage above the latin title. Wood cut headpieces and decorated initials.

Claudius Aelianus, born at Praeneste (c.175-235) was also known as a teacher of rhetoric. De historia animalium is a collection of brief stories, facts and fables about animals that invites the reader to ponder contrasts between human and animal behaviour. Aelianus' work is one of the main sources of mediaeval natural histories and bestiaries. (from Encyclopaedia Britannica 11th edition and the preface of the Loeb Classical library). In its time it was a popular book and ran to several editions thowever early editions such as this are rarely seen in trade