PERRAULT, Claude.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Description anatomique d'un Cameleon, d'un Dromadaire, d'un Ours, et d'une Gazelle. First edition of this pioneering work of comparative animal anatomy by Claude Perrault, polymath and brother of the celebrated fairy-tale writer Charles. The chameleon, beaver, dromedary, bear, and gazelle are described in detail and illustrated in five large folding plates, each depicting the animal both alive and dissected.Perrault was a founding member of the French Royal Academy of Sciences in 1666 and led a team of anatomists - often referred to as the "Parisians" - that pioneered the systematic study of comparative anatomy and helped lay the foundations for its development as a scientific discipline. "In the spirit of rationalism, Perrault and his team investigated and debunked many popular myths attached to certain species, such as the legend that salamanders live in fire or that chameleons subsist on air. They also recorded their methods of work along with their results, providing the only contemporary disclosure of how such anatomical research was conducted in the seventeenth century" (Garrison-Morton).No such extensive and detailed descriptions of these five species had previously been published. Their external and internal characteristics are examined with frequent comparisons to corresponding structures in other animals, while the narrative ranges beyond anatomy to etymology, classical references, and early attempts at classification. The majority of the work is devoted to the cham

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.