ALDROVANDI, Ulisse (1522-1605). Monstrorum historia. Cum paralipomensis historiae omnium animalium, Bologna, 1642, 2 parts, including supplement, bound in one volume, [colophon to second part dated 1658], folio, woodcut illustrations, later half calf

ALDROVANDI, Ulisse (1522-1605).  Monstrorum historia. Cum paralipomensis historiae omnium animalium. Bartholomaeus Ambrosinus ... volumen composuit, edited by Marco Antonio Bernia. Bologna: Typis Nicolai Tebaldini, 1642-1657-1658, 2 parts, including supplement, bound in one volume [title of second part dated 1657 and colophon of second part dated 1658], folio (328 x 225mm). Engraved architectural title, dated 1642, by Giovanni Battista Coriolano, incorporating a portrait of the dedicatee Ferdinando de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, c. 450 woodcut illustrations, many near full-page, initials and ornaments (engraved title cropped, variable browning, spotting and staining throughout, many woodcuts offset onto text, p.135 mis-numbered 139 in second part). Late 18th- or early 19th-century half calf, spine with red and green morocco lettering pieces gilt (worn and repaired, later endpapers). Provenance: From the Collection of Peter and Margarethe Braune; old inscription and illegible institutional library stamp on verso of title; illegible pencil note at foot of dedication; the number [?]"48" [?or "h8"] written in white ink on upper cover. FIRST EDITION. The volume number "13" is stamped in gilt on the upper lettering-piece, suggesting the present volume was once part of a larger set of the author's works, only four of which appeared during his lifetime. Aldrovandi, widely considered to be one of the founding fathers of modern natural history, was the first director of the botanical garden at Bologna, where he also had his own museum of biological specimens or "Cabinet of Curiosities". His many works on all aspects of the natural sciences, published separately between 1599 and 1667, were intended to form an encyclopedic overview of biology, even when - most notably in this celebrated volume dedicated to "monsters" and human deformity - many of the entries owe as much to myth, speculation and fantasy as they do to science. Brunet I, 57-58: "Le volume qui traite des Monstres doit contenir un supplément à l' histoire des animaux"; cf. Garrison-Morton 290 (citing the author's Opera omnia (Bologna, 1599-1667, 13 vols.): "Aldrovandi, first director of the botanical garden at Bologna, was a prolific writer. Some of his writings made their first appearance in print after his death. He designed them as a whole to form an enormous encyclopedia of biology"; Graesse I, 65; Heirs of Hippocrates 330; Krivatsy 187; Nissen ZBI 74; Wellcome I, 172.