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BELON du Mons, Pierre. Portraits d'oyseaux, animaux, serpens, herbes, arbres, hommes et femmes, d'Arabie & Egypte. Paris: Guillaume Cavellat, 1557.
4o (223 x 159 mm). Elaborate woodcut title-page border; numerous woodcuts throughout text, including birds, animals and plants; woodcut views of Alexandria and the Hellespont; large folding woodcut map of Mount Sinai (lacking map of Mount Athos). Contemporary vellum, remnants of leather ties. Provenance: some early anatomical notes on front flyleaf; early signature of George Bell on title; 1779 inscription of A.L. Frazer recording his purchase of the book from the Duke of Argyle; Richard Monckton Milnes, 1st Baron Houghton (1809-1885), English poet, patron of literature and politician (Robert Crewe bookplate-his wife's family name); acquired from Bernard Quaritch, 1983.
FIRST EDITION of this fine woodcut book, dedicated to Henri II. Under the patronage of Cardinal François de Tournon, Belon was furnished with means for undertaking an extensive scientific journey. Starting in 1546, he travelled through Greece, Crete, Asia Minor, Egypt, Arabia and Palestine, and returned in 1549. A full account of his Observations on this journey, with illustrations, was published in Paris, 1553. Returning to the household of Cardinal de Tournon at Rome for the conclave, Belon encountered the naturalists Guillaume Rondelet and Hippolyte Salviani. He returned to Paris with his copious notes and began to publish. Many of the woodcuts that appear in the first part of the work were first used in his L'histoire de la nature des oyseaux (Paris, 1555, see lot 103). Nissen IVB 87; see Mortimer French 50.
4o (223 x 159 mm). Elaborate woodcut title-page border; numerous woodcuts throughout text, including birds, animals and plants; woodcut views of Alexandria and the Hellespont; large folding woodcut map of Mount Sinai (lacking map of Mount Athos). Contemporary vellum, remnants of leather ties. Provenance: some early anatomical notes on front flyleaf; early signature of George Bell on title; 1779 inscription of A.L. Frazer recording his purchase of the book from the Duke of Argyle; Richard Monckton Milnes, 1st Baron Houghton (1809-1885), English poet, patron of literature and politician (Robert Crewe bookplate-his wife's family name); acquired from Bernard Quaritch, 1983.
FIRST EDITION of this fine woodcut book, dedicated to Henri II. Under the patronage of Cardinal François de Tournon, Belon was furnished with means for undertaking an extensive scientific journey. Starting in 1546, he travelled through Greece, Crete, Asia Minor, Egypt, Arabia and Palestine, and returned in 1549. A full account of his Observations on this journey, with illustrations, was published in Paris, 1553. Returning to the household of Cardinal de Tournon at Rome for the conclave, Belon encountered the naturalists Guillaume Rondelet and Hippolyte Salviani. He returned to Paris with his copious notes and began to publish. Many of the woodcuts that appear in the first part of the work were first used in his L'histoire de la nature des oyseaux (Paris, 1555, see lot 103). Nissen IVB 87; see Mortimer French 50.