Lot 2: ALDROVANDI, ULISSE.

ALDROVANDI, ULISSE. [OPERA]. BOLOGNA , 1621-1649 13 volumes, folio (348 x 233mm.), engraved titles, numerous woodcut illustrations, old calf, bookplate of Thomas Molyneux MD, inkstamps of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, bindings worn and defective, needs rebinding, text blocks broken; sold with all faults, not subject to return

The publication of Aldrovandi's works is complicated; it involved a number of editors and patrons, and carried on for many years after his death in 1605. In fact only four volumes were published in his lifetime, when the author was in his eighties. At his death he bequeathed his library, unpublished manuscripts and museum (the greatest of its day) to the city of Bologna. Among other things, his work is notable for describing or figuring several birds for the first time, including the toucan and the bird of paradise.