'LHistoire de la nature des oyseaux' von Pierre Belon

Pierre Belons treatise on birds, published in Paris in 1555, is regarded as a pioneering early work of ornithology. Christine Kleiter analyzes this work in its exceptional position as one of the first printed and illustrated natural history treatises. She shows how the text and images pursue the claim to systematically document and catalog knowledge. In doing so, she compares Belons work with that of other naturalists, such as Conrad Gessner and Ulisse Aldrovandi. It becomes clear that Belon drew on a variety of sources - from living and dead animals to specimens and drawings - and depicted some animals that had never been seen or described before in Europe. This volume thus offers a completely new insight into the research practices of the early modern period.