Johannes Jonstoni - Thaumatographia naturalis - 1632

Rare edition of this erudite work dedicated to the wonders of nature, rooted in the tradition of encyclopedic compilations and collections of learned curiosities from the 17th century.

Jonstoni, a doctor and polymath of Polish origin, gathers in this treatise a vast series of descriptions of animals, plants, minerals, and natural phenomena, emphasizing their extraordinary, rare, or admirable nature, making it a milestone in the history of curiosity cabinets and the literature of mirabilia.

The work is distinguished by its ambition of systematization, seeking to organize the wonders according to rational categories while maintaining a sense of wonder inherent to Baroque culture.

The whole illustrates the tension between curiosity and science, between fascination with the extraordinary and the desire for classification, offering historians of science and modern bibliophiles a valuable testimony on the circulation of naturalist knowledge and the editorial staging of wonders at the beginning of the 17th century.

Johannes Jonstoni - Thavmatographia natvralis - 1632 - Guillaume Blaeu
[4] ff., 5 to 501 pages

Good condition of the binding, book in its original full red leather, signs of use, wear on the edges, rubbed tips and corners, gilded edges, ornate spine with gold tooling, gilded titling, gold borders framing the covers.

Good interior condition, minor stains, some water marks along the edges of the first and last leaves, tailpieces, superb vignette on the title page, marbled endpapers.

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