Natural Sciences

The collection focuses on works of botany, zoology and the history of technology, whose illustrations are indispensable for understanding the development of the respective scientific discipline. They are not arranged as a group, but can be found in different parts of the classification, but mostly under Zx, a section in which scientific publications have their place. They can be found with keywords of the corresponding discipline (“Botanik (botany), “Zoologie” (zoology), “Entomologie” (entomology), etc.), individual animal or plant names (“Schmetterlinge” (butterfly), “Muscheln” (mussels), “Grillen” (crickets), “Insekten” (insects), etc.) or specific subject terms (such as “Optik” (optics), “Nautik” (nautics), “Mechanik” (mechanics), “Saline” (saltworks), “Dampfmaschine” (steam engines), “Pumpe” (pumps).

Zs-BUF 2389-3490/36 raro V 

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Botany

The Farnese Gardens were laid out from 1542 as part of a villa complex by the Farnese family on the Palatine Hill in Rome. The plants and trees from the Levant, East Asia and Latin America are the subject of this work, published in 1625 and featuring outstanding illustrations. It appeared under the name of Tobia Aldini (16th/17th century), papal botanist and personal physician to Cardinal Odoardo Farnese from 1617–1626.

Dv 4850-2250 raro VI

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Louis Alphonse de Brébisson (1798–1888), French botanist and photographer, is known for his work Flore de la Normandie. He undertook several excursions to Normandy at the age of 15 and began publishing his Exsiccatae series, a collection of dried herbarium published in several duplicate sets, on the mosses there in 1826. This herbarium, published in a small edition, comprises a total of 8 fascicles, each containing 25 samples of dried mosses.

Zx 780-4260/1 raro IV
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Zx 780-4260/2 raro IV
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Zx 780-4260/3 raro IV
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Zx 780-4260/4 raro IV
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Zx 780-4260/6 raro IV
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Zoology 

The Anglo-Irish writer Edward Donovan (1768–1837) described and illustrated many species of insects based on the collections of other naturalists. He was the author of a number of natural history books, including The Natural History of British Insects (1792–1813), which is notable for its numerous color illustrations. The three volumes of the Hertziana have numerous handwritten annotations and were owned by the Sturani family. Mario Sturani (1906–1978) was a painter, ceramicist, set designer, costume designer, poet, and writer. His interest in entomology manifested itself in two richly illustrated works Caccia grossa tra le erbe (1942) and Vita delle farfalle (1947). His entomological collection was enriched by his son Enrico.

Zx 670-3970/1 raro IV

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Zx 670-3970/2 raro IV

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Zx 670-3970/3 Raro IV

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Gustav Hauser (1856–1935), pathologist and bacteriologist, achieved his first scientific successes in zoology, particularly in entomology. According to a pencil note on the title page, this copy of the book on the Damaster-Coptolabrus group is the author’s personal galley proof copy. The Italian dedication reveals that Luisa (Monti Sturani, 1911–2002) gave the book to her husband Mario Sturani (1906–1978), who was interested in entomology, in 1960. Following the illustrated plates, further photos of the corresponding species are pasted onto the blank pages. According to a note, these were taken by Albert van Hoegaerden, an entomologist who was active in the Società entomologica italiana from 1957 to 1961. He may have been the intermediate owner of the book.

Zx 680-5210 raro IV

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History of technology - Machines and other cultural techniques

The obelisk that stands in St. Peter’s Square today bears no inscription that reveals anything about its ancient Egyptian origins. It may not have been completed when Augustus conquered Egypt and had it erected on the Forum Iulium in Alexandria. Caligula then brought it to Rome in 37 BC on a specially constructed ship, where he placed it in a circus named after him to the south of where today St. Peter’s Basilica is located. The obelisk was still there when Sixtus V (1585–1590) decided to transfer it to the square in front of the church as part of the new construction of St. Peter’s and announced a competition to carry out this elaborate undertaking. Domenico Fontana (1543–1607) came up with a convincing solution and oversaw the months-long work, which ended with the erection on September 10, 1586. The publication also documents the key steps in a number of illustrations, in which the aesthetic appeal of the presentation of technical details is striking; allegories and angels accompany the individual work steps, while the tools are decoratively arranged in cartouches. The publication goes on to present other building projects undertaken by the pope.

Ca-FON 140-1900 raro VIII

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Castelli E Ponti is one of the first technical manuals to systematically deal with the necessities of a construction site and to foreground the transfer of practical knowledge over theory. The book is divided into three sections. The first section presents the tools, machines, and equipment used by bricklayers and carpenters in common building practice (Pl. I–XVII) and the second presents the scaffolding designed by Nicola Zabaglia (1664–1750) for maintenance and restoration work (Pl. XVIII–XXXVI). In both sections, the constructive and functional complexity of the devices depicted increases. Zabaglia demonstrates thereby his forty years of experience in the Fabbrica di San Pietro (i.e., at the worksite of Saint Peter’s). The last section is dedicated to the transportation of the Vatican obelisk, referring to Domenico Fontana (1543–1607) (Pl. XXXVII–LIV). In contrast to Fontana’s work (see above), however, the illustrations are without decorative elements and are limited to the depiction of the technical processes.

Ca-ZAB 10-3430 raro IX 

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