Abstract
The 102 dedications composed by the sixteenth-century physician and polymath Conrad Gessner between 1541 and 1565 offer a rich trove of insight into many aspects of his particular career but also into the workings of the Republic of Letters more generally. Although Gessner never benefitted from a major patronage relationship and probably received limited financial support from his dedicatees, he nonetheless managed to publish a number of major works on his initiative, including folio volumes of philology, bibliography, and especially expensive works of illustrated natural history. Crucial to Gessner’s success was his accumulation of smaller contributions in kind from a wide range of people who offered him hospitality or sent him information and specimens, manuscripts and images, which Gessner used in his publications. Gessner rewarded contributors not only by private expressions of thanks, but also in print, and especially visibly in his dedications. Gessner was also unusual in calling attention to the role of learned printers for his work, by composing dedications to them and by advertising that various of his publications were initiated by requests from printers or bequests of manuscripts by recently deceased scholars. Gessner thus used the high visibility of the printed dedication to invite further contributions from learned readers, bequests of unfinished manuscripts, and proposals from printers with which to fuel his remarkable productivity.
I am indebted to generous colleagues for their comments and corrections: Anja Goeing, Anthony Grafton, Urs Leu, Paola Molino, Mikhail Sergeev, and the editors of this volume. I am grateful to those who organized and attended my talk at CalTech, especially Mordechai Feingold and David Hall. Warm thanks to Samantha Wesner for help with research and formatting, and to Tom Keeline for his expert reading of the Greek dedications.
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Notes
- 1.
On the conception of E-rara in 2008 see Leu 2014a, 53.
- 2.
Scanning also introduces distortions of its own, including traces of hands, blurred scans, and duplicate pages. The multiple digital copies of Mithridates (1555) also omit, without indicating that they do, the fold-out table appended to the work, present in the volume itself. See for example the copy with call number Regensburg 999/Ling1a and its digitization at the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (hereafter BSB). The table may have escaped the notice of the scanner and certainly did not fit the format of the rest of the octavo book.
- 3.
For example one of the copies of Gessner’s 1565 De omni rerum fossilium genere on E-rara contains only the first of the ten texts in that collection (see the digitization of call number NG 1910 from the Zentralbibliothek Zurich, hereafter ZB). Or the copy digitized by the BSB of David Kyber. Lexicon rei herbariae (1553) contains a thoroughly blacked out sentence fragment on p. 7 concerning the afterlife: “Quanquam enim credendum est, sanctos qui in vera per unicum Christum fiducia obdormiunt, pari inter se omnes amore feruoreque in vita coelesti coniunctos iri.” I cite Gessner’s works by title alone; further bibliographical details are provided in the appendix.
- 4.
Compare the E-rara pdf of Gessner’s Bibliotheca universalis, f. 454v–455r with the edition of 1966.
- 5.
See Wellisch 1984, section A, 31–100.
- 6.
The later editions I have included are the fourth edition of the Dictionarium graecolatinum (1545) and the second edition of the Onomaticon (1549), which were the earliest editions of these works to contain a dedication by Gessner; and the second editions of the Icones avium (1560) and Icones animalium (1560) which each included a new dedication in addition to reprinting the dedication present in the first editions of these works.
- 7.
Gessner chose as dedicatee a mutual friend, Christophorus Piperinus, minister in Sigriswil, Bern. See Stockhornii et Nessii in Bernatium Helvetiorum ditione montium … brevis descriptio in Valerii Cordi Annotationes in … Dioscorides libros V, 1561, E-rara pdf 486 ff. I refer to image numbers in the pdf listed in the appendix when the printed pagination is difficult to follow, e.g. because of multiple pagination sequences. I am grateful to Urs Leu for bringing to my attention another such example, in which Gessner dedicated to Abel Werdmüller a work by Abel’s recently deceased father Otho that Gessner published as part of Johannes Fabricius Montanus 1555.
- 8.
- 9.
For examples of “praefatio” see Valerii Cordi Annotationes (1561), Galeni Opera (1562). “Epistola dedicatoria” occurs in Apparatus (1542), Sententiae Antonii et Maximi (1546, Greek volume), De rerum fossilium figuris (1565).
- 10.
Works with a “Gessner to the reader” only: Actuarius. De medicamentorum compositione (1540); Enumeratio medicamentorum (1543); Galeni opera (1549); Epitome (1555); Viaticum novum (1565).
- 11.
- 12.
The 500th anniversary of Gessner’s birth has prompted renewed attention to Gessner, including: Leu 2016a; Leu and Ruoss 2016; a special issue of Gesnerus (2016); and Blair 2017b. Earlier accounts of Gessner’s life include Braun 1990; Wellisch, 1–25; Ley 1929; Hanhart 1824; and Simmler 1566. See also Serrai 1990; Leu 1990; and Leu et al. 2008.
- 13.
“Accipe igitur, quicquid hoc et quantulumcumque est libelli, meae erga te observantiae pignus perpetuae, et amoris monumentum summi.” Hanno Carthaginensium ducis navigatio in Ioannis Leonis Africani de totius Africae descriptionis libri IX, 1559, E-rara pdf 566 ff.
- 14.
OED records first uses in French in 1526, in English in 1542 in a translation of Erasmus’s Apopthegms; “maecenas” does not appear in the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae.
- 15.
- 16.
See the case of Jean Bodin in Blair 2013, 138–39.
- 17.
“Ea quidem lege, ut a fronte libelli significarem Lectori, nec suo [Gessner’s], nec Guilandini iussu aut voluntate evulgata haec esse, sed meo unius arbitrio.” Nicolaus Philesius, “Ad lectorem,” in De stirpium aliquot epistolae, 1557, sig. A2r.
- 18.
ZurKinden/Zerchinta also appears as a correspondent in Gessner’s Epistolarum medicinalium libri III, 1577, ff. 130v–131r. In his dedication of Historia animalium II, 1554, to Johannes Steiger, also a city councilor in Bern, Gessner requested that Steiger send Gessner’s greetings to ZurKinden.
- 19.
See Terrall 2002.
- 20.
“Et patrono suo colendissimo. Con. Gessnerus d.d.” Evonymi thesaurus, 1552, ZB call number Md E 377, digitized on E-rara.
- 21.
De libris a se editis, 1562, sections 37 (“Hunc librum cum in gratiam Andreae Gesneri patruelis mei, novi tum typographi, immaturum ederem, nomen meum adderem nolui”) and 60 (“meum [nomen] enim non ponere placebat, ne quis sutorem ultra crepidam mihi obijceret.”). Also Wellisch, 91.
- 22.
- 23.
Niccolò Perotti to Francisco Guarneri, as edited and discussed in Monfasani 1988, 26, sentences 20–21. I am grateful to Anthony Grafton for this reference.
- 24.
- 25.
See Hoyoux 1944, 43–49.
- 26.
See Hoyoux, 41 and 34–41 for the list. Vanautgaerden notes that dedications were important especially before 1516 when Erasmus became counselor to prince Charles; most notably his edition of Lucian was divided into 7 parts, each with a different dedicatee. Vanautgaerden, 82.
- 27.
I count seventeen works containing more than one dedication and eight cases of dedications addressed to more than one individual.
- 28.
The record for most dedications in one publication that I have come across is 23 dedications in Paolo Zacchia, Quaestiones medico-legales, 1620, as discussed in Pinon 2009, 63, n. 14.
- 29.
Dedications by others (not Gessner) in this corpus include: Ephesii Scholia, 1541 (Magus Leonicus, pdf 109); Porphyrii institutiones, 1542 (Joachim Perionius, pdf 6); Antonij Thylesii opuscula aliquot 1545 (Joannes Ludovicus Brassicanus, pdf 122); Sententiae Antonii et Maximi 1546 (Vincentius Obsopaeus, pdf 278; Conrad Clauser, pdf 317); Ermolao Barbaro. Compendium 1548 (Hieronymus Wildenbergius, pdf 128); Chirurgia 1555 (too many to list!); Valentini de anima 1563 (Vitus Amerbacius, pdf 469; Philip Melanchthon, pdf 711); De omni rerum fossilium genere 1565 (Kentmann, pdf 10 and 240; Georg Fabricius, pdf 288; Severinus Goebelius, pdf 358).
- 30.
- 31.
The appendix lists the lengths of dedications. For other long dedications see: Apparatus et delectus (1542), Stobaeus (1543), Martial (1544), Antonij Thylesii opuscula aliquot (1545), Bibliotheca universalis (1545), Historia animalium I (1551), Historia animalium IV (1558), Marcus Aurelius (1559), Ars magirica (1563), Dioscorides. De curationibus (1565), De omni rerum fossilium genere (1565). The shortest are to Gregorius Laetus in Sententiae Antonii et Maximi (1546), Beck von Beckenstein in Mithridates, 1555, and Lemnius in Nomenclator piscium, 1560.
- 32.
One of these was reprinted in the nineteenth century in Botfield 1861, 518–22 (Gessner’s Greek dedication to Anton Werther von Beichlingen in his edition of Marcus Aurelius, 1559). Botfield also reproduces Gessner’s Latin dedication to Johann Jakob Fugger in his edition of Aelianus, 1556, 482–85.
- 33.
“Est enim vere philosophia divinum bonum. … [N]on iniucundam eius in nomina vestra inscriptionem vobis futuram existimavi.” Onomasticon, 1549, sig. ++3r–v.
- 34.
“Quod si authoritate tua effeceris, ut viri aliqui docti apud vos, illarum avium quae in Anglia reperiuntur ultra eas quas hic exhibui, effigies mihi communicent, librum hunc alias ijs ipsis iconibus, et alijs forte (si quas aliunde interim nanciscar) Domino Opt. Max. vitam largiente, augendum curabo.” Icones avium, 1560, 128. “Thomas Erastus Helvetius, civis meus … icones aliquot animantium raras, Balthici praesertim maris aquatilium, te possidere adiecit, quas mihi communicaturum te sis pollicitus, si qua commoditas tanto locorum intervallo mittendi daretur.” De piscibus, 1556, 94.
- 35.
Hoyoux notes (41) that Erasmus was exceptional in not following this pattern.
- 36.
See Wellisch, 40–43. Gessner calls his edition of Martial in 1544 “the most useful of everything I have published after the translation of Stobaeus.” “Hunc certe laborem post translationem Stobaei utilissimum omnium quae publicavi obijsse mihi videor.” Bibliotheca universalis, 1545, f. 182v.
- 37.
Not much is known about Beck von Beckenstein (whose name Gessner spelled in a variety of ways); on his ownership of Greek manuscripts, see Serrai, 90.
- 38.
“Haec ex inscriptione mea tibi habeas, clarissime Leonharte, veluti vinculum inseparabile nomini tuo ad posteros propagando futurum: partim quoniam libelli per se sunt eximij, nec indigni amplitudine tua: partim quod virtutis tuae splendore, etiam ipsi proculdubio fient illustriores.” Antonij Thylesii opuscula aliquot, 1545, sig. a4v.
- 39.
“Quod si Mecoenas etiam aliquis benignus contingat, cuius auspicijs res peragatur, perfectior tota historia efficietur: sin minus (ut nunc sunt divites plaerique avari ac sibi tantum, non bonis studijs vivunt) non desinam tamen pro virili mea tam plausibile argumentum excolere.” Bibliotheca Universalis, 1545, f. 182v.
- 40.
“O ego si forem dives, quam recte pecunijs uti, quam beneficus alijs esse vellem? difficillimum tamen est factu, et a paucissimis praestatur, ideoque laudandum constantius, quanto contingit rarius. … Accedit gloriae tuae non exigua pars, quod luxu et ocio in tanta occasione post habitis, vitam frugalem degas, et bonas amplectare literas, et literatis summopere faveas, denique pro virili tua disciplinas et sapientiae studia promoveas.” Antonij Thylesii opuscula aliquot, 1545, sig. a3v–4r.
- 41.
“Te vero unum ut virtutis et nobilitas excellentia florere, sic etiam doctrina et animi promptitudine ad Bibliothecam instruendam plaerosque omnes tui ordinis homines a tergo relinquere animadverti.” Bibliotheca universalis, 1545, sig. *5v.
- 42.
“His ego rationibus defendi poteram, et illustri viro Caesareae maiestatis a consilijs D. Leonardo Beckh a Beckhenstain, Mecoenati meo et patrono optime merito, ... ita hunc etiam iure consecrare.” Pandectae (1548), sig. *2r. “Hanc autem qualemcumque tabulam, nobilissime et sapientissime Leonarde, tuo potissimum nomini nuncupare volui, ut et quanti perpetuo te facerem merito tuo inde conijceres: et si quid ad augendum emendandumve Mithridatem nostrum, cum alibi tum circa Germanicae linguae antiquitatem et vetustissima carmina afferre posses, (potes autem pro doctrina et diligentia tua his in rebus plus quam alius quisquam) id promptius citiusque ut faceres, et me tui studiossimum amare pergeres.” Mithridates, 1555, foldout table.
- 43.
Leu 2016a, 167–174; Braun, 89–90.
- 44.
“[Q]uale profecto hactenus, in Germania quidem, nullum videre mihi contigit. Quamvis enim copiosas librorum moles inspexerim alibi, magna tamen illorum pars, aut inutilibus omnino, aut plane vulgaribus libris constabat. Vestra [bibliotheca] vero, ut non adeo multos, sic certe praestantissimos, rarissimos, plaerosque nondum evulgatos, et Graecos, id est antiquos, habet codices. … [C]larissimo nomini vestro dedicare volui: ut commode petendi aliquos ex Bibliotheca vestra codices, occasione ista fruerer.” Sententiae Antonii et Maximi, 1546, Greek volume, sig. +2r–v.
- 45.
“Quod si hunc laborem tibi non ingratum fuisse declaraveris, animum mihi addideris ut in animalium historia cum picturis singulorum, exquisito et magno opere, alacrius subinde pergam.” Sententiae Antonii et Maximi, 1546, Latin volume, sig. *2r.
- 46.
“Te certe unum omnium hoc munere dignissimum iudicavi: et multis hactenus annis, quibus in eo perficiendo elaboravi, animo meo id tibi nec temere nec immerito destinavi. … Testatur amplissima illa quam paras omne genus librorum BIBLIOTHECA, tanto quidem studio, ut plerosque etiam reges in eo iam aut aeques aut superes.” Historiae animalium liber III, 1555, sig. a4r–v.
- 47.
“D. Ioanni Iacobo Fuggero… Domino et Mecoenati suo… [Q]uoniam tu Graecum codicem manuscriptum vetustissimum ex publica amplissimae civitatis vestrae Bibliotheca mihi impetrasti, et alterum ex proprio librorum tuorum thesauro addidisti.” Aeliani opera quae extant (1556), sig. Alpha 2r.
- 48.
Ibid.: “Redeunti igitur ad te Aeliano tuo, iam integro, emendato, bilingui, publico, facilem ac benignum te praebe, et in bibliothecam tuam veluti hospitij iure admitte.”
- 49.
Ibid.: “Huius de animalibus libros a Petro Gillio Latinitate donatos, nostra memoria potentissimum Gallorum regem Franciscum grato et liberali animo accepisse constat.”
- 50.
See Braun, 88 (Seiler); and Häberlein, 167 (Gryll). Crato and Gasser featured prominently in Gessner’s Epistolarum medicinalium libri III, ff. 1–22v and 22v–44r respectively. On Crato see Louthan 1994. “Peto praeterea ut per occasionem in Photij patriarchae Catalogo authorum quos legit (quem Augustae apud vos in generosi viri D. Io. Iacobi Fuggeri Mecoenatis mei benemeriti nobilissima Bibliotheca Graece manuscriptum vidi) locum, si modo est aliquis, de Epiphanio eiusque scriptis inquiras….” Sancti Patris Epiphanii de XII gemmis in De omni rerum fossilium genere, 1565, sig. (a)3r. Discussed in Schottenloher, 97, 203. On Gessner’s exchanges with Occo, see Delisle 2006, 36–39.
- 51.
“Salutant te cum alij apud nos eruditi viri, tum praecipue Heinrychus Bullingerus, Rodolphus Gualtherus, ecclesiarum apud nos antistites, et Ioan. Frisius noster. Tu ex me Wolfgango Musculo, Michaeli Cellario, Bernardino Ochino Senensi, Ioanni Heinrycho Helt, et Xysto Betuleio, viris mihi maxime colendis salutem dicito.” Sententiae Antonii et Maximi, 1546, Latin volume, 346.
- 52.
See Kusukawa 2012, 59.
- 53.
None of these presentation copies has been identified yet.
- 54.
See Nutton 1985, 96. See the entry of March 7, 1561 in the 1561–62 Calendar of State Papers http://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/foreign/vol4/pp1-16#fnn1 The Cecil papers record a “short table of divers sums disbursed between 26 May and 4 Aug. 1561, by Sir Wm. Cecil, at the Queen’s command. … 6 l. to Conrad Gesner, ‘in reward for his book De Animalibus.’“Available online at http://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-cecil-papers/vol1/pp257-263. I am grateful to Samantha Wesner for this find.
- 55.
“Labores sane mei (ut nihil de sumptibus pro ea. tenuitate dicam) immensi fuerunt.” “Alij etiam qui nuper de aquatilibus scripserunt in Gallia Italiaque, Pontifices aut Cardinales locupletes habuerunt Mecoenates. [E]go unus cum patronum et Mecoenatem hac in re hactenus desyderem, eo venia sum dignior, sicubi expectationi non satisfecero. [S]umptibus enim alicubi opus erat, non paulo quam meae facultates sint maioribus.” Historiae animalium liber IV, 1558, sigs. a6r and a5v.
- 56.
See Braun, 71, 136, 143–44.
- 57.
Historiae animalium liber IV, 1558, sig. [a5]v.
- 58.
“[Q]uarum utriusque [incomparabilis virtus tua et doctrina illustris] cum ante paucos annos Augustam Vindelicorum, (ubi tum cum Caesare eras,) venissem, gustum ac fructum non mediocrem cepi.” De anima liber in Valentini de anima et vita libri tres, 1563, 720 (pdf 1019). “Primum ut amicitiam mutuam foeliciter superioribus annis Augustae Vindelicorum, cum ad mensam illustris viri Ioan. Iacobi Fuggeri convenissemus, incoeptam, hoc ceu vinculo inter nos obstringerem.” Valerii Cordi annotationes, 1561, 236 (pdf 494).
- 59.
“Mihi quidem frequentem, et pleno omnium ore de virtutibus tuis doctrinaque celebrem famam, Paulus Scalichius Comes Hunnorum, (antiquissima generis nobilitate illustris, et eruditione multijuga…) verissimam esse iampridem asseruit: et eandem nuper cum alij quidam non vulgares et fide digni viri, tum praecipue Ioannes Sambucus … plane confirmarunt.” Nomenclator aquatilium animantium, 1560, sig. aa2r. Paul Scalich made an entry in Gessner’s liber amicorum; see Durling 1965, 145 and 156. On Sambucus whose dedication practices offer a rich case for comparison with Gessner’s, see Visser 2005, especially ch. 4.
- 60.
On Erasmus’ reliance on these brokers, see Hoyoux, 52. Also Kusukawa, 84, notes the importance of intercessors especially for the Emperor. Schottenloher, 197–208, gives examples of works dedicated to those who helped secure privileges too.
- 61.
“Accepi tandem piscium Oceani Germanici quas ad me dedisti Eicones tam diu desideratas ornatissime Echti.” Xenocratis de alimento ex aquatilibus, in Iani Dubravii de piscinis, 1559, sig. A2r. I have found nothing about Echt beyond the identification in Serrai, 328.
- 62.
“Quamobrem et propter tot tantaque divina in te beneficia ex animo tibi gratulor, et inter clientes tuos adnumerari vehementer cupio.” Appendix, 1555, sig. *3r. In 1565 Gessner mentioned that von Niedbruck had sent him a manuscript some years earlier and bemoaned his premature death; Sancti Patris Epiphanii de XII gemmis in De omni rerum fossilium genere, 1565, sig. (a)3r.
- 63.
Bibliotheca universalis, 1545, f. 180r–v. And “Sed typographus me inscio et praeter omnem expectationem meam, exiguam duntaxat accessionis meae partem adiecit, reservans sibi forte auctarium ad sequentes etiam editiones.” De libris a se editis, 1562, section 1, sig. A2r.
- 64.
“Ostendit nobis aliquando doctissimus vir Arnoldus Arlenius Peraxylus Graecae supellectilis tuae catalogum, et prolixas excellentiae tuae in utraque lingua per omnes philosophiae gradus laudes narravit. … Etenim brevi magna doctorum pars cognoscet quinam egregij libri superstites apud te lateant, cum eorum mentionem in bibliotheca nostra, sive scriptorum omnium Catalogo iam primum a nobis absoluto legerint, expresso toties fere nomine tuo, quot libros Graecos rariores te possidere cognovi.” Lexicon Graecolatinum, 1545, sig. +2r–v.
- 65.
Mendoza’s library catalog is one of five catalogs that Gessner named, alongside the Vatican and Medici library catalogs. Bibliotheca universalis, sig. [*6]v.
- 66.
See Braun, 40–41.
- 67.
Froschauer used the same woodcut of Gessner in Icones avium (1555) at the end of the index and in Historia animalium (1555) on the verso of the title page. I have also found it present in one copy of the Icones animalium of 1553, placed under the dedication, though the woodcut is not present in the digitized copy from E-rara; see Stanford Library copy KB1553.G4.f.
- 68.
For a few specifics about these payments see below note 84.
- 69.
See Wellisch, 17. For Gessner’s complaints about his early employment, see Bibliotheca universalis, f. 180r.
- 70.
“Ne vero sine patrono in manus hominum … liber hic imperfectus perveniret, unius defuncti loco plures excellentissimosque patronos [the University of Wittenberg] delegi.” Gessner, Valerii Cordi annotations, 1561, sig. a iiiv (pdf 11). Gessner also applied these terms to Steiger (“patronum et spectatorem praecipuum” Historiae animalium liber II, pdf 126), Gryll (“iudicem simul ac patronum” De raris herbis, sig. A2r), Bullinger (twice, see below), Lauraeus (“patronum … qui his de rebus et recte iudicare posset,” Valerii Cordi annotationes, 236, pdf 494), and Alexandrinus (“censorem simul graviorem et patronum meliorem,” Valentini de anima, 720).
- 71.
Quoted in footnote 20.
- 72.
“Et aequissimum est profecto huiusmodi opus, quod gymnasio vestro (cui studiorum meorum incunabula simul ac progressus debeo) aliquando usui futurum sperarem, non alijs offerri quam vobis, quorum beneficio atque liberalitate ferme a puero in hunc usque diem bonis literis vaco.” Martialis epigrammata, 1544, sig. *4v. On this expurgated edition, see Leu 2014b, 197–208.
- 73.
“Non solum enim patronum te et vindicem cum Athenagorae, tum Gesneri interpretis, sed arbitrum atque iudicem esse cupio.” Athenagoras, 1557, 80.
- 74.
Ibid., 79: “Debueram enim iamdudum aetatem, propter perpetuam in me benevolentiam tuam, propter multa et magna beneficia, aliquod animi grati et memoris argumentum tibi deferre: quamvis liberalitas tua id non requirat.”
- 75.
On dedications to cities, see Schottenloher, 188 ff.
- 76.
“In den züricher Akten steht als die erste eine Widmung Konrad Gessners verzeichnet, welcher dem Rate (‘Meinen Gnädigen Herren’) im September 1551 sein Buch von den vierfüßigen Tieren ‘verehrt’ hatte. Er erhielt dafür als Gegengabe 10 Malter Kernen (Roggen oder Weizen) und 10 Eimer Wein jährlich.” Kapp 1886–1923, Band 1, ch. 5, 319 (available from de.wikisource.org) I am grateful to Kusukawa, 56, for this reference.
- 77.
As quoted in note 70.
- 78.
“Mox autem ipsum argumentum suggerebat, honestissimum Ordinem vestrum, hoc qualicunque dono dignissimum, simul etiam patronum mihi meoque huic operi futurum, imprimis mihi deligendum, quoniam inclyta urbs vestra ad maximum nobilissimumque nostrarum regionum et ferme totius Europae flumen Rhenum condita, summum Helvetiae nostra decus et ornamentum existit.” Nomenclator aquatilium amantium. Icones…1560, 279.
- 79.
Letter of Simon Sulzer in Basel to Gessner, Staatsarchiv Graubünden in Chur, shelf mark: D V/37 C 36.06.26. Many thanks to Urs Leu for this information and reference.
- 80.
“Atqui beneficentia vestra multo magis nunc indigent pupilli, quos iam iam moriturus parens fidei vestrae commisit.” Dioscorides. De curationibus, 1565, sig. [a6]r.
- 81.
“Quanquam nemo ira iudicare debet, ac si librorum ordo, quos alijs prius, alijs posterius dedicavi, discrimen aliquod inter typographos constituat. Non enim ordinem, sed argumentum ut plurimum respexi, in quo quis vel numero vel dignitate excusorum a se librorum excelleret: et alicubi forte ut primum quis in mentem venit, ita liber aliquis ei dicatus est.” Pandectae, 1548, sig. [6]r. See Leu 2014a esp. 59–67.
- 82.
“Etenim in studiosorum gratiam ut Opus hoc universum composui, ita singulorum eius librorum inscriptiones feci in typographorum illorum nomina, qui hoc tempore maxime florerent, ac optime de bonis studijs meriti essent, ut simul hac occasione quinam ex officinis eorum libri prodivissent, quotquot meminisse poteram, commemorarem: simul ut gnaviter pergerent pro virili mea illos animarem. Excitatur enim fere ad maiora, qui anteactos labores suos quamplurimis et utiles et gratos fuisse, seque publicis illorum gratia laudibus, tanquam suae praemio virtutis, affici celebrarique animadverterit.” Pandectae, 1548, sig. [6]r.
- 83.
See Wellisch, 14; see the German translation in Ley, 21–22.
- 84.
See Wackernagel 1881, 20 re Elias Philippinus (paid 15 l 2 s 2d “pro Galeni recognitione”); 39 (“Gessnero pro praefatione,” 15 l from Froben) and 41 (“Gessnero d.d.” 15 l from Episcopius). I am most grateful to Urs Leu for the information concerning Bullinger and the reference to his “Haushaltungsbuch oder Rechnungsbuch,” Zentralbibliothek Zürich, Ms. K 40. For more discussion of Gessner’s finances see Blair 2017b and Leu 2016a, 348.
- 85.
See Wellisch, 13. On the relations between these different units of currency see Guthrie 2003, 34.
- 86.
See Wellisch, 91–92. I did not find this edition of Galen digitized and relied on Wellisch’s collection of microfilms and a physical copy at the Huntington Library.
- 87.
“[Q]uoniam typographis placuit me in eos praefari, quibus ego propter multa praeclara eorum in me beneficia, quamvis probe tenuitatis meae conscius, meam operam negare non sum ausus.” Galeni omnia quae extant, 1562, sig. a + 3v.
- 88.
“Cum his diebus patruelis meus Andreas Gessnerus, Ioannis Leonis Africam suis typis cuderet: eique auctarium aliquod novum a me addi contenderet, nec ocium ad maiora mihi suppeteret, subito Hannonis Navigationem, qua is maximam Libycae orae partem lustravit, dieculae fere opera, Latinam feci et simul Scholia quaedam, nimis quidem festinanter conscripta, adieci.” Hanno Carthaginensium ducis navigation, 1559, sig. alpha 2r (pdf 568).
- 89.
“Patruelis meus typographus hoc ipso tempore sub praelo haberet … meque rogaret ut novi aliquid adderem de meo…” Valentini de anima, 1563, 721 (pdf 1020). “Nunc tandem, postulante typographo patrueli meo, ut praelo ocioso aliquid suppeditarem, ex schedarum mearum acervo hunc libellum deprompsi.” Cassii Naturales et medicales quaestiones, 1562, sig. A2v.
- 90.
“Maluissem equidem, praesertim in proprijs lucubrationibus, si quisquam alius, occupatissimus, abstinere hoc labore minime glorioso: sed nimium fere ad gratificandum typographis facilis esse soleo, et ad promovendas defunctorum lucubrationes.” Willich, Ars magirica, 1563, sig. *3r–v.
- 91.
“Principem vero tibi locum Froschovere inter claros aetatis huius typographos assignavi, non de industria quidem, neque primario instituto, sed casu, ut modo dicam.” Pandectae, 1548, sig. [6]r.
- 92.
“Supersunt tamen adhuc non pauca, quae calci voluminis adijcienda me absente in Italia typographorum incuria omisit: sed cum illa, tum veterum exemplarium collationes brevi fortassis aedentur separatim.” Bibliotheca universalis, 1545, f. 182r. This passage was marked for deletion in the ZB copy but is present in the Olms reprint.
- 93.
“Interpretationem hanc Locorum communium a Graecis separari non debere, consilium meum fuerat…. Nunc quoniam aliter visum est. Typographo nostro, magis e re sua futurum persuaso, si uterque seorsim vaeneat.” Sententiae Antonii et Maximi, 1546, Latin volume, sig. *2r.
- 94.
See Gessner, Epistolarum medicinalium libri III, 1577, 22r (to Crato von Krafftheim, 26 March 1564), complaining that the colors were applied “negligenter” and “defunctorie” because of the printer’s avarice; as discussed in Kusukawa, 76.
- 95.
This figure includes the reprint of 1557 Athenagoras in 1559 as Theologorum Graecorum libri. Most of these imprints were octavos, with one quarto (De raris et admirandis herbis, 1555), two folios (De piscibus, 1556 and Theologorum Graecorum libri, 1559), and one 16mo (Hanno Carthaginensis, 1559). Gessner refers to Andreas and Jacob as his “patrueles” which means that they descended from his father’s brother, making them cousins or cousins-once-removed since they were likely younger than Gessner. For some details, see Gessner’s letter to Crato von Krafftheim of 26 March 1564: “patrui mei nomen est Andreas Gesnerus senior (nam et filium eiusdem nominis habuit) annos nunc octoginta natus, tribunitiae dignitatis, senator, liberorum, nepotum et pronepotum utriusque sexus pater, avus et proavus numero centum et triginta quatuor hoc tempore, quorum maior pars vivit.” Epistolarum medicinalium, 1577, f. 21v. See Serrai, 50.
- 96.
This count omits the Paduan publication of 1557 in which Gessner was not involved (see note 17).
- 97.
“Sed suum plerunque lucrum spectant typographi, potius quam vel authorum voluntatem, vel utilitatem Lectorum solidam. “De libris a se editis, 1562, section 25, sig. A6r–v. Gessner also showed his awareness of printers’ concerns when he invoked the need to fill the blank pages in a quire, as I discuss in Blair 2017a.
- 98.
On this aspect of Aldrovandi, see the work of Pinon.
- 99.
Wellisch, 23–25, provides a brief account. A facsimile of Gessner’s manuscripts on plants is available: Conradi Gesneri historia plantarum 1987, 2 vols.
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Appendix 1: Gessner’s Publications and Dedications (Ordered by Date of Dedication)
Appendix 1: Gessner’s Publications and Dedications (Ordered by Date of Dedication)
Wellisch number | Date of pub’n | Short title format (fol. 4to, 8vo); privilege if mentioned (imperial, royal [Austria], French, unspecified); pdf source | Place of pub; publisher | Dedication month (+ year if diff from pub yr) | Dedicatee(s); length of dedication | Dedicatee place/origina |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Written in Lausanne | ||||||
A1 | 1537 | Lexicon Graecolatinum. fol. 3-year imp priv. (pdf e-rara) | Basel J Walder | none—no mention of Gessner’s contribution; see ed of 1545 | ||
A2 | 1540 | Actuarius. De medicamentorum compositione. 8vo. (pdf Google Books) | Basel R. Winter | None | ||
A7 | 1542 | Apparatus et delectus simplicium. 8vo. (pdf archive.org; some expurgations) | Lyon J, F Frellon | Jan 1541 | Christophorus Clauserus, archiatros (chief physician of the city). 8p | Zurich |
A4 | 1541 | Actuarius. De differentiis urinarum. 8vo. (pdf Google Books) | Zurich Froschauer | n.d. | 1. Petrus Jacobus Et Stephanus, Hispanus Vincentinus (met in Montpelier). 3p | Spain |
Universalis doctrina Galeni | June | 2. (pdf p. 96) Albertus Belfort, medicus (met in Lyon). 4½p | Graubünden | |||
Sylva experimentorum Galeni | Aug | 3. (pdf p. 341) Claudius Milletus, medicus (met in Lyon). 1½p | Lyon | |||
A3 | 1541 | Historia plantarum. 8vo. (pdf e-rara) | Basel R. Winter | Aug | Heinrich Billing, stepson of bürgermeister Jakob Meyer. 5p | Zurich |
A8 | 1542 | Catalogus plantarum. 4to. (pdf e-rara) | Zurich Froschauer | n.d. | Johannes Jacobus Ammianus, bonarum literarum professor—former teacher and lodger. 5p | Zurich |
Written in Zurich | ||||||
A6 | 1541 | De Lacte et operibus lactariis. 8vo. (pdf e-rara) | Zurich Froschauer | June | Jacobus Avienus [Vogel]. 12p. on the Alps | Glarus (cf De libris a se …) |
A5 | 1541 | Michael Ephesius. Scholia in Aristotelis Libros. 8vo. 7-year priv unspec. (pdf BnF) | Basel: B. Westhemer | Aug | 1. Sebastian Singler [Sinkler], medicus et praeceptor. 3½p | Basel |
scholia de longitudine et brevitate vitae | Aug | 2. (pdf p. 43) Aegidio Scudo [Tschudi], offered hospitality. 2½p | Glarus | |||
scholia de divinatione per somnum | Aug | 3. (pdf p. 80) Melchior Wirtz, friend since boyhood. 3½p | Zurich | |||
A10 | 1542 | Moralis Interpretatio errorum Ulyssis Homerici. 8vo. (pdf BSB) | Zurich Froschauer | Mar | 1. Pierre Viret, theologus. 2p | Lausanne |
commentatio de nympharum antro | Mar | 2. (pdf p. 35) Beatus Comes [Comte], theologus et medicus. 3p | Lausanne | |||
lucubratio Procli Lycii | Mar | 3. (pdf p. 67) Jean Ribit, prof. of Greek, friend (BU). 3½p | Lausanne | |||
A9 | 1542 | Porphyrii institutiones. 8vo. 7-year priv unspec (pdf BnF) with Compendium de syllogismis authoris incerti | Basel [R Winter] | Aug | (pdf p. 347) Otho Werdmüller, prof of philosophy. 1½p | Zurich |
A11 | 1543 | Stobaeus. Sententiae ex Thesaurus Graecorum. fol. (pdf e-rara) | Zurich Froschauer | June | Johannes Jacobus Watenwil [Wattenwyl] and Joannes Franciscus Negelin [Hans Franz Naegeli], noble city consuls of Bern. 8½p | Bern |
A15 | 1543 | Enumeratio medicamentorum. in Brasavola, Examen omnium catapotiorum sive pilularum 8vo. imp priv, duration unspec. (pdf BSB) | Zurich Froschauer | None; starts on pdf p 150 with Gessner’s “to the reader” | ||
A12 | 1544 | Heraclides Ponticus. Allegoriae in Homeri Fabulas. 8vo. (pdf BSB) | Basel Oporinus | Jan | Hieronymus Frikker [Fricker], praefectus of Mendrisio, Ticino; helped religious refugees from Italy. 4p | Bern, Ticino |
A13 | 1544 | Martialis Epigrammata. 8vo. (pdf e-rara, Gessner’s own copy, with annotationsb) | Zurich Froschauer | Mar | Felix Fry [Frey], Heinrich Bullinger, Gaspar Megander, Erasmus Fabricius [Schmid], and Rolph [Rodolphus] Gualtherus, ministers, profs of theology, “respected patrons and preceptors.” 6½p | Zurich |
A14 | 1544 | Onomasticon. fol. [used Wellisch mfilm] | Basel [H. Curio] | None; see 1549 edition | ||
A17 | 1545 | Antonii Thylesii. Opuscula aliquot. 8vo. (pdf BSB) | Basel Oporinus | Feb | Leonhard Beck von Beckenstein, consiliarius to emperor. 7p | Augsburg |
A16.1a | 1545 | Bibliotheca Universalis. fol. (pdf e-rara, Gessner’s own copy with annotations) | Zurich Froschauer | July | Leonhard Beck von Beckenstein. 9½p | Augsburg |
A1.4 | 1545 | Lexicon Graecolatinum, 4th ed (first to list Gessner on title page). fol. royal priv unspec. (pdf BSB) | Basel [H. Curio] | Aug | Diego Hurtado a Mendozza, imperial ambassador to Venice. 3p | Venice |
A18.1 | 1546 | Sententiae Antonii et Maximi. (Greek). fol. (pdf e-rara, Gessner’s own copy with annotations) | Zurich Froschauer | Feb | Johann Welser, Jakob Herbrot, and the Senate of Augsburg. 2p | Augsburg |
A18.2 | 1546 | Sententiae Antonii et Maximi (Latin). fol. (pdf e-rara) | Zurich Froschauer | Feb | 1. Johann Jakob Fugger, wealthy merchant. “domino in Vuyssenhorn and domino suo.” 1p | Augsburg |
2. (pdf p. 360) Gregorius Laetus [Froehlich], archigrammateus. ¼p | Augsburg | |||||
A19 | 1548 | Ermolao Barbaro. Naturalis scientiae totius compendium. 8vo. (pdf BSB) | Basel Oporinus | Aug | Jakob Gessner, relative. 2½p | Zurich |
A16.1b | 1548 | Pandectae. fol. (pdf e-rara) Book I, grammar and philology | Zurich Froschauer | Sept | 1. (pdf p. 11) Christophorus Froschauer, Gessner’s main printer to date. 1p/ 3p with list of books | Zurich |
Book II, dialectic | n.d. | 2. (pdf p. 98) Joan. Bebelius and Michael Isengrin, printers. 1p | Venice | |||
Book III, rhetoric | Jan | 3. (pdf p. 110) Johannes Oporinus, printer. 1½p | Basel | |||
Book IV, poetics | n.d. | 4. (pdf p. 130) Nicolaus Brulinger [Brylinger], printer. ½p | Basel | |||
Book V, arithmetic | Feb | 5. (pdf p. 158) Robert Estienne, printer. ½p | Paris | |||
Book VI, geometry | Feb | 6. (pdf p. 166) Johannes Petreius, printer. 1p | Nurnberg | |||
Book VII, music | Feb | 7. (pdf p. 174) Henricpetri, printer. 1p | Basel | |||
Book VIII, astronomy | Feb | 8. (pdf p. 186) Hieronymus Curio, printer. 1p | Basel | |||
Book IX, astrology | Feb | 9. (pdf p. 202) Joan. Montanus [Berg] and Ulrich Neuber, printers. 1p | Nurnberg | |||
Book X, divination and magic licit and illicit | Feb | 10. (pdf p. 210) Wendelin Rihel, printer. 1p | Strasbourg | |||
Book XI, geography | Feb | 11. (pdf p. 226) Paolus Manutius, printer. 1p; 4½p with list of publications | Venice | |||
Book XII, history | Mar | 12. (pdf p. 246) Sebastian Gryphius. ½p; 6p with list of publications | Lyon | |||
Book XIII, mechanical and useful arts | Apr | 13. (pdf p. 342) Christian Wechel, printer. ½p, 4p with list | Paris | |||
Book XIV, natural philosophy | May | 14. (pdf p. 374) Johannes Herwagius, printer. ½, 1½ with list | Basel | |||
Book XV, metaphysics | May | 15. (pdf p. 486) Johannes Gymnicus [Gymnich], printer. ½p, 2½p with list | Cologne | |||
Book XVI, moral philosophy | June | 16. (pdf p. 534) Johannes Frellon, printer. ½p, 2p with list | Lyon | |||
Book XVII, economic philosophy | July | 17. (pdf p. 618) Vincentius Valgrisius, printer. ½p, 1p with list | Venice | |||
Book XVIII, politics | July | 18. (pdf p. 634) Hieronymus Scotus [Girolamo Scoto], printer. ½p | Venice | |||
Book XIX, civil law | Aug | 19. (pdf p. 670) Thomas Junta, printer. ½p | Venice | |||
A14.3 | 1549 | Onomasticon (published with Calepino, Dictionarium). fol. royal priv unspec. (pdf BSB) | Basel H. Curio | Jan | (pdf p. 1124) Jacobus and Marcus Roestius [Roeist], Jacobus and Marcus Stapfer, Jacob Habius [Haab], Georgius Grebel, Georgius Escher, Felix Engelhart, Heinrich and Georg Rublin [Rubli], Wilhelm and Geroldus Meier [Meyer von Knonau?], patricians. 5p | Zurich |
A16.1c | 1549 | Partitiones theologicae. fol. (pdf e-rara) | Zurich Froschauer | Feb | Hieronymus Froben and Nicolaus Episcopius, printers. 1p, 2½p with list of books | Basel |
A20 | 1549 | Galenus. Opera. fol. 5-yr imp priv. (pdf BSB) | Basel Froben | None; but “Gesnerus medicinae candidatis” | ||
A21 | 1550 | Aristotelis. Opera omnia. fol. imp priv unspec. (pdf e-rara) | Basel: Bebel & Isingrin | None; Gessner not mentioned on title page, thanked in the printer’s “to the reader” | ||
A22 | 1550 | Galeni brevis denotatio dogmatum Hippocratis. in Galeni aliquot opuscula, pp. 103-6. 8vo. (pdf BnF) | Lyon: G. Rovillius | None | ||
A23 | 1551 | Historia animalium I: De quadrupedibus viviparis. fol. (pdf e-rara) | Zurich Froschauer | Aug | Consuls and Senators of Zurich. 8½p | Zurich |
A16.2a | 1551 | Elenchus (unauthorized publication, as noted in 1551 Historia animalium). (pdf Google Books) 4to | Basel Oporinus | None; Gessner not involved | ||
A33 | 1552 | Hieronymus Tragus. De stirpium … facultatibus, tr. Kyber. fol. 7-year imp priv. (pdf e-rara) | Strasbourg Wendelin Rihel | None; Gesnerus ad rei medicae studiosos | ||
A32 | 1552 | Thesaurus Euonymi Philiatri. 8vo. (pdf e-rara) | Zurich: A. Gessner + Wyssenbch | n.d. | Nicolaus Zurkinden, consiliarius. 2p | Bern |
A34 | 1553 | De Germaniae et Helvetiae Thermis.in De Balneis. fol. priv from pope and senate of Venice (pdf BSB) | Venice Junta | Mar | (pdf p. 610) Thomas Junta, printer. ½p | Venice |
A35 | 1553 | Kyber. Lexicon rei herbariae. fol. 7-year imp priv. 8vo. (pdf BSB, some expurgations) | Strasbourg W. Rihel | Apr | 1. Lucius Kyber, pastor and father of deceased author. 8p | Strasbourg |
Gessner, Tabulae collectionum in genere | 2. (pdf p. 624) Nicolaus Speicher, pharmacopola and friend of deceased. 1p | Strasbourg | ||||
A29 | 1553 | Icones animalium. fol. 8-year imp priv + 10-year French priv] (pdf e-rara) [one issue with woodcut at end of dedication at p. 7 of pdf] | Zurich Froschauer | Aug | Thomas and Johannes Grey, brothers of Henry Duke of Suffolk. 1p | England |
A24 | 1554 | Historia animalium II: De quadrupedibus oviparis. fol. 8-year imp priv; 10-year F priv (pdf e-rara) | Zurich Froschauer | Feb | 1. Valentinus Gravius, decimarius and senator from Fribourg. 1½p | Fribourg, Switzerland |
Appendix Historiae quadrupedum | Mar | 2. (pdf p. 126) Johannes Steiger, senator from Bern and quaestor for Savoy. ½p | Bern | |||
A40 | 1555 | Enchiridion rei medicae triplicis. 8vo. (pdf BSB) | Zurich A J Gessner | Aug (1554) | Achille Gasser, medicus. 3p | Augsburg |
A25 | 1555 | Historia animalium III: De avium natura. fol. 8-year imp priv + 10-year F priv. (pdf e-rara) [woodcut of Gessner pdf p. 4] | Zurich Froschauer | Mar | Johann Jakob Fugger, wealthy merchant. 3½p | Augsburg |
A36 | 1555 | Chirurgia. fol. imp priv. (pdf BSB) | Zurich A J Gessner | Jan | Geryonis [Gereon] Seiler, medicus of the city of Augsburg. 1½p | Augsburg |
A16.1d | 1555 | Appendix. fol. (pdf BSB) | Zurich Froschauer | Mar | Caspar von Niedbruck [Nyderbruck or Nydbruck], noble counselor to Ferdinand and Maximilian. 3p | Vienna |
A30 | 1555 | Icones avium. fol. (pdf e-rara) [woodcut of Gessner pdf p. 137] | Zurich Froschauer | Mar | Ulrich Fugger, count of Kirchberg and Weissenhorn. 1p | Augsburg |
A37 A38.1 | 1555 | De raris et admirandis herbis. Pilati Montis descriptio. 4to. (pdf e-rara) | Zurich A J Gessner | July | 1. Laurentius Gryllus, medicus, bearing greeting to Ulrich Fugger. 1p | Landshut |
Sept | 2. (pdf p. 51) Johann Chrysostom Huober [Huber], medicus. 1p | Luzern | ||||
A39 | 1555 | Mithridates. 8vo. (pdf e-rara) [appended foldout table is absent in this copy; other digitizations also omit the table] | Zurich Froschauer | Aug | 1. Johannes Bale, Englishman, bishop of Ossory, Ireland (spent time in Zurich). 1½p | Ireland |
appended folded table not present in pdf | Sept | 2. Leonhard Beck von Beckenstein. ¼ p | Augsburg | |||
Not in Wellischc | 1555 | Otho Werdmüller, Similitudinum ab omni animalium genere, in Johannes Fabricius Montanus, Differentiae animalium quadrupedum (pdf E-rara, pp. 137–376) | Zurich A J Gessner | March | Abel Werdmüller, adolescent son of Otho who died in 1552; a relative of Gessner’s | Zurich |
A41 | 1556 | Sanitatis tuendae praecepta. 8vo. (pdf e-rara) | Zurich A J Gessner | Jan | Johannes Wegmann and Felix Peierus [Peier], senators and tribunes of Zurich. 2p | Zurich |
A43 | 1556 | De piscibus et aquatilibus omnibus libelli. 8vo. (pdf e-rara) | Zurich A Gessner | n.d. | 1. (pdf p. 11) Joan. Perrinus, learned young man, who dedicated the book to Sebastian a Loys. 1p | Lausanne |
Catalogus aquatilium ex Plinio | Mar | 2. (pdf p. 23) Johannes Caius, medicus et philosophus. 2½p | England | |||
Aquatilium … nomina Germanica et Anglica | Apr | 3. (pdf p. 105) Burchardus Mythobius, medicus et philosophus. 2½p | Northern Germany | |||
De fictis in Germanica lingua aquatilium nominibus | June | 4. (pdf p. 256) Melchior Guilandus [Wieland]. 3p | Prussia | |||
A42 | 1556 | Aelianus. Opera. fol. (e-rara, Gessner’s own copy with annotations) | Zurich A J Gessner | May | Johannes Jacobus Fugger, dominus of Kirchberg and Weissenhorn, and Maecenas. 2p | Augsburg |
A44.2/A49 | 1557 | Athenagoras. fol. (e-rara) reprinted in 1559 Theologorum (Zurich: A Gessner). fol. (pdf e-rara) | [Geneva] H. Estienne | Feb | (pdf p. 84, following Greek section which has no dedication) Heinrich Bullinger. 2p. (in 1559 repr. same dedication on pdf p. 246) | Zurich |
A45 | 1557 | De stirpium aliquot epistolae. 8vo. (BnF, Google Books) | Padua Perchacinus | None—Gessner not involved in the publication (comprises one letter by Guilandinus and one by Gessner) | ||
A26 | 1558 | Historia animalium IV: De piscium…natura. fol. 8-year imp priv + 10-year F priv (pdf e-rara) | Zurich Froschauer | Aug | Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor. 7½p | Vienna |
A46 | 1559 | Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. De vita sua. 8vo. 3 year priv unspec. (pdf e-rara) | Zurich A Gessner | Feb | (pdf p. 292) (following Latin translation) Anton Werther [von Werthern] von Beichlingen. In Greek. 9½p | Beichlingen |
A47 | 1559 | Hannonis Carthaginensium ducis navigatio (in Leonis Africani de totius Africae descriptio) 16mo. (pdf e-rara) | Zurich A Gessner | Feb | (pdf p. 566) Joan. Du Choul, royal senator and prefect of the Allobroges. 2p | Allobroges =Dauphiné |
A48.1 | 1559 | Xenocrates de alimento ex aquatilibus. 8vo. (in Iani Dubravii De piscinis) (pdf e-rara) | Zurich unspec | Oct | Joan. Echtius [Backofen von Echt]. 1½p | Cologne |
A29.2 | 1560 | Icones Animalium (2nd ed.) fol. imp and French priv unspec. (pdf e-rara) [no woodcut] | Zurich Froschauer | June | 1. Elizabeth I, recently crowned queen of England. 4p + 28-line Greek ode | England |
2. (pdf p. 144) Thomas and Johannes Grey (repeated from 1553) | ||||||
A30.2 | 1560 | Icones Avium (2nd ed.) fol. 8-year imp priv and 10-year F priv (pdf e-rara Gessner’s own copy with annotations) | Zurich Froschauer | Mar 1555 | 1. Ulrich Fugger (repeated from 1555). 1p | Augsburg |
accessio (additions of 2nd ed) | July | 2. (pdf p. 130) Johannes Parkhurst, bishop of Norwich; former Marian exile in Zurich. 1p | Norwich, England | |||
A31 | 1560 | Nomenclator … Icones Animalium aquatilium. fol. 8-year imp priv and 10-year F priv (pdf e-rara, Gessner’s own copy with annotations) | Zurich Froschauer | June | 1. Maximilian II, King of Bohemia and of Austria. 3½p | Vienna |
Book II | May | 2. (pdf p. 309) Senate of Basel. 1½p | Basel | |||
Ordo II, tome II, on fresh water fish | June | 3. (pdf p. 368) Sigismund, Freiherr von Herberstein, Nyperg and Guttenhag [imperial diplomat]. 1p | Vienna etc | |||
accessio de Germanicis … nominibus | June | 4. (pdf p. 400) Levinus Lemnius, medicus. ½p | Zierikzee NL | |||
A50 | 1561 | Josua Maler. Dictionarium Germanicolatinum. 8vo. (partial pdf e-rara) | Zurich Froschauer | None; Gessner ad lectorem praefatio | ||
A51 | 1561 | Valerius Cordus. Annotationes in Dioscorides, etc. fol. 8-year imp priv (pdf e-rara) | Strasbourg Iosias Rihel | June | 1. Faculty of Medicine, Wittenberg. 2½p | Wittenberg |
Annotationes in Dioscoridis libros | Aug | 2. (pdf p. 11) Son of Joannis Ralla, recently deceased pharmacopola, who transmitted ms to Placotomus. 1½p | Leipzig | |||
Valerii Cordi historia plantarum | Dec 1559 | 3. (pdf p. 190) Hieronymus Herold, medicus, proposed dedication #1, supplied legible copy of ms. 2p | Nurnberg from Leipzig | |||
[extra plant pictures—no title] 8pp | Jan 1560 | 4. (pdf p. 448) Caspar Collinus [Ambühl], pharmacopaeus. ¼ p | Sion, Switz. | |||
Sylva observationum variarum (18pp) | Dec 1559 | 5. (pdf p. 456) Joannes Placotomus, medicus, sent ms to Gessner. 1p | Danzig | |||
De artificiosis extractionibus (9pp) | Dec 1560 | 6. (pdf p. 472) Phillippus Bechius [Bächi], medicus, sent ms to Gessner. 1p | Basel | |||
Compositiones medicinales (5pp) | Dec 1560 | 7. (pdf p. 481) Sebald Hawenreuter [Hauenreuter], medicus. ½p | Strasbourg | |||
Stocc-hornii … montium descriptio (8pp) by Benedictus Aretius, a friend of Gessner | Jan 1560 | 8. (pdf p. 486) dedication by Gessner to Christophorus Piperinus [Pfäfferlin], minister. ½p | Sigriswil, Bern | |||
Horti Germaniae | Jan 1560 | 9. (pdf p. 494) Stephanus Lauraeus, imperial medicus. 1p | Augsburg | |||
Appendix … de hortis Germaniae | Jun 1561 | 10. (pdf p. 598) Franciscus Calceolarius, pharmacopola. 2p | Verona | |||
A52 | 1561 | Historia et interpretatio prodigii. 8vo. (pdf e-rara) | [Zurich] | None; published under a pseudonym (Conrad Bolovesus) | ||
A54 | 1562 | Cassius Iatrosophista. Naturales et medicinales quaestiones. 8vo. (pdf e-rara) | [Zurich] J Gessner | Jan | 1. Johannes Kentmann, medicus. 4p | Torgau in Saxony |
Greek text | Jan/Feb | 2. (pdf p. 70) in Greek: Antonios Niphoreios [Schneeberger] 3½p | Cracow from Zurich | |||
A53 | 1562 | Claudius Galenus. fol. Opera omnia (mfilm Wellisch) | Basel Froben | Feb | Basil Amerbach and the other professors of the Academy of Basel. 4p | Basel |
A55 | 1562 | Sante Arduino. De venenis. fol. imp priv unspec (pdf BSB) | Basel: Henricpetri & Perna | None; no mention of Gessner | ||
A59 | 1563 | Valerius Cordus. Stirpium descriptionis liber V. fol (only 28p). 8-year imp priv (pdf BSB) | Strasbourg J Rihel | Aug 1562 | Wolfgang Meurer, medicus et philosophus. 1p | Leipzig |
A56 | 1562 | De libris a se editis epistola ad Guilielmum Turnerum. 8vo. (pdf e-rara) | Zurich Froschauer | Sept | William Turner. 1p | England |
A57 | 1563 | De anima liber. in Ioh. Lod. Vives, De anima et vita. 8vo. (pdf BSB) | Zurich J Gessner | Feb | (pdf p. 1018) Julius Alexandrinus Tridentinus, medicus to the emperor. 3p | Vienna |
A58 | 1563 | Jodocus Willich. Ars magirica. 8vo. (pdf e-rara) | Zurich J Gessner | Aug | Johannes Pontisella, “moderator Ludi,” rector of the Latin school. 11½p | Chur, Graubünden |
A60 | 1564 | Henri Estienne. Dictionarium medicum. 8vo. (pdf BSB) | Geneva H. Estienne | none by Gessner; dedication (inserted as a cancel) by H. Estienne to Philibertus Saracenus, medicus, 2p | ||
A61 | 1565 | Dioscorides. De curationibus morborum. ed. Joh. Moibanus and Gessner. fol. 8-year imp priv (pdf Hathitrust) | Strasbourg J Rihel | June 1564 | 1. Council and Senate of Augsburg. 9½p 2. (pdf p. 38) in Greek. Joannis Crato [von Krafftheim]. 6½p | 1. Augsburg 2. Breslau |
A63 | 1565 | De omni rerum fossilium genere. 8vo. (pdf BSB complete) comprises 10 works by 5 authors. only Gessner’s listed here | Zurich J Gessner | |||
De bitumine | July | 1. (pdf p. 425) Valerando Dourez, pharmacopola. 2p | Lyon | |||
Valerii Cordi de Halosantho | 2. (pdf p. 436) Andreae Pellizero, medicus. 2½p | Kärnten, Austria | ||||
Sancti Patris Epiphanii … de XII gemmis | July | 3. (pdf p. 514) Adolphus Occo, medicus. 3½p | Augsburg | |||
De rerum fossilium, lapidum et gemmarum | Aug | 4. (pdf p.778) Andreas Schadcovius [Szadkowski], notarius salinarum. 7p | Cracow | |||
A62 | 1565 | Jacques Houllier. Viaticum novum. 8vo. (pdf e-rara) | Zurich Froschauer | Gessner to the reader; dedication by Caspar Wolf | ||
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Blair, A. (2017). The Dedication Strategies of Conrad Gessner. In: Manning, G., Klestinec, C. (eds) Professors, Physicians and Practices in the History of Medicine. Archimedes, vol 50. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56514-9_10
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