Deer, Historiae Animalium, 16th Century


Gesner comments on the variety of deer throughout Europe, Asia and Africa, differing primarily in their antlers and their size. He notes that they are among the swiftest creatures on earth and generally known for their beauty. Historiae Animalium (Studies on Animals) is considered to be the first modern zoological work. This first attempt to describe many of the animals accurately is illustrated with hand-colored woodcuts drawn from personal observations by Gesner and his colleagues. Conrad Gesner (March 26, 1516 - December 13, 1565) was a Swiss naturalist and bibliographer. To his contemporaries he was best known as a botanist, but in 1551 he was the first to describe brown adipose tissue; and in 1565 the first to document the pencil. He died of the plague, at the age of 49, the year after his ennoblement.


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