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Conrad Gesner: Biography
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| Conrad Gesner |
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| Porcupine (Historiae animalium, vol. I) |
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| Fox (Historiae animalium, vol. I) |
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| Unicorn (Historiae animalium, vol. I) |
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| Fragaria vesca in Conradi Gesneri Historia plantarum (click to enlarge) |
A professor at the Carolinum (the precursor of the University of Zürich), Gesner liked large projects. He single-handedly wrote a Greek dictionary, then a catalog of all authors who had ever written in Latin, Greek, or Hebrew, together with a listing of their works (Bibliotheca universalis, 1545–1549). He also wrote Mithridates de differentis linguis (1555), an account of approximately 130 different languages. In addition, Gesner wrote voluminously about plants, although most of his botanical works were published posthumously.
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| On the rabbit (Historiae Animalium, vol. 1) |
His magnum opus, however, was the Historiae animalium ("Accounts of Animals"), published at Zürich in 1551–1558 and 1587, a 4,500-page encyclopedia of animals, now regarded as the starting point of modern zoology. It was also the first printed work to include illustrations of fossils.
In it, Gesner attempted to list and describe all of the world's animals. He tries not only to give an account of animals as denizens of the natural world, but also to convey their place within literary tradition. There are many anecdotes, and the names of animals are given in various languages. Knowledge derived from ancient sources, in particular Aristotle, Pliny, Aelian, and the Old Testament, was combined with folklore and with information from medieval scholars such as Albertus Magnus.
The Historiae animalium contains many accounts of mythical creatures. For example, the basilisk, sea monk, and unicorn are illustrated (see figures below) along with real animals such as foxes and porcupines (right), and rhinoceroses (shown below).
Still, Gesner did place a new emphasis on observation and accurate description that had been lacking in the works of earlier naturalists, who largely accepted whatever had been passed on to them from the ancients. If this new approach had not given a lasting value to Gesner's work, we might not otherwise have been sufficiently aware of him today to shake our heads at his gullibility.
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Interesting facts:
- In 1567, Conrad Gesner gave the earliest known description of a pencil.
- Gesner was the first scholar to describe the brown rat (Rattus norvegicus) in Europe.
Note: Gesner was also known as: Konrad Gessner, Konrad Geßner, Conrad Gessner, Conrad Geßner, Conrad von Gesner, and Conradus Gesnerus.
Other illustrations from Historiae animalium:
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| Basilisk | Sea Monk |
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Albrecht Dürer's famous rhinoceros appeared in Conrad Gesner's Historiae animalium (although its date of creation predates Gesner's birth). | |
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| Elephant (Historiae animalium, vol. I). | |
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| Northern Bald Ibis (Historiae animalium, vol. III). | |
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