L'histoire de la natvre des oyseavx
Subtitle: avec levrs descriptions, & naïfs portraicts retirez du natvrel, escrite en sept livres
By: par Pierre Belon du Mans
Publisher: ... Gilles Corrozet ...
Published: 1555
Place of publication: A Paris
Language: fre
Number of pages: 381
Subjects: Birds
Other titles: Histoire de la nature des oiseaux.
Notes: Colophon reads: Imprime à Paris par Benoist.

Signatures: ã⁶, ẽ⁴, ĩ⁴, a-f⁶, g⁴, h-m⁶, n⁴, o-t⁶, v⁴, x-z⁶, A-E⁶, F⁴, G-I⁶, K-L⁴. A⁶, p. [275]-[276], and L⁴ blank.

Woodcuts include port. of author, two comparing human and bird skeletons, 158 depicting birds and one bat, and 7 displaying the printer's device, some signed with a lorraine cross, others with a white cross on black diamond, some unsigned. Author mentions Pierre Goudet [i.e., Gourdelle] as an artist.

Many plates captioned with excerpts from Aristotle in Greek letter. Some Greek in text as well.

Also published in Paris by Guillaume Cavellat in the same year.

Each part has separate title page each with printer's device.

Includes index.

Mortimer, R. French 16th cent., 50

Brunet, I, column 762

Library's copy has hand-colored woodcuts (except skeletons) following the color details in the contemporary text.

Library has copy from Theodore Besterman's library. Cf. Besterman, T. Art books, p. 11 and Goldschmidt, E.P. Catalogue 165, 31.