Pluvialis Viridis seu Pardalis

Reference: S1333
Author Luigi Ferdinando MARSILI
Year: 1726
Printed: Amsterdam
Measures: 405 x 290 mm
€150.00

Reference: S1333
Author Luigi Ferdinando MARSILI
Year: 1726
Printed: Amsterdam
Measures: 405 x 290 mm
€150.00

Description

Plate taken from the famous and rare Danubius Pannonico-Mysicus, observationibus geographicis, astronomicis...in sex Tomos digestus. The Hague and Amsterdam: 1726.

The Bolognese Luigi Ferdinando Marsigli (1658 - 1730) conducted during his travels studies and research of geographical and naturalistic nature, collecting books and scientific materials with which he enriched the Institute of Sciences he founded in Bologna in 1711. Among his major works is the Danubius Pannonico-Mysicus, published in The Hague and Amsterdam in 1726 and illustrated with 107 plates that the Bolognese printer Petronio dalla Volpe, many years after the death of the author, republished anonymously with the title: Pesci che nascono nel Danubio e volatili che vivono lungo d'esso.

The Danubius Pannonico-mysicus, written and illustrated in the 1790s, when Marsili was engaged in the war against the Turkish invaders as general of the imperial army, was published only in 1726, in Holland, in six volumes of large format. The text explains the reasons for the importance of this work for the history of disciplines such as geography, natural history and geology and the role, not only ornamental, but cognitive, that in the author's intentions have in it the illustrations, entrusted to an exceptional team of artists and experimenters.

Luigi Ferdinando Marsili's (1658-1730) comprehensive work on the natural history of the river Danube. Following the 1699 treaty between Austria and the Ottoman Empire, Marsili was commissioned to map the frontier between Hungary and the Ottomans, and in doing so gathered much information on the topography, zoology and geology of the region, specifically the Danube. The work would not be published until 1726, following numerous delays due to Marsili's extensive European travels after leaving Austria.

Etching, finely hand-colored, in excellent condition.

Luigi Ferdinando MARSILI (Bologna - 10 luglio 1658, Bologna - 1 novembre 1730)

Luigi Ferdinando Marsili or Luigi Ferdinando Marsigli was an Italian scientist, military, geologist and botanist. He belonged to an aristocratic family of Bologna, being cadet son of Count Carlo Francesco Marsili and his wife Margherita Hercolani. He did not make regular studies, but he procured a vast culture by attending the University of Bologna and Padua, and studying mathematics, anatomy and natural sciences with distinguished teachers, such as Geminiano Montanari and Marcello Malpighi. He began to travel very early, associating scientific observations with the collection of data on military organization. In 1671, he went to Naples where he visited the Campi Flegrei and climbed Mount Vesuvius. In 1679 he went to Constantinople, then capital of the Ottoman Empire, where he stayed about a year. Result of the return trip, through the Balkan Peninsula, were the observations around the Bosphorus Thracian or true channel of Constantinople (1680). In 1682 he enlisted in the army of Emperor Leopold I, was wounded and taken prisoner by the Turks in an action on the river Rába, and sold as a slave to a Pasha whom he accompanied to the battle of Vienna. After wanderings and hardships, he was ransomed in 1684, returning to military life as an engineer. Marsili's activity consisted mainly in the study and design of fortifications and other works of military engineering such as roads and bridges, in the preparation of siege works, in the survey of topographical plans, and in logistical preparations. The military activity allowed him to continue his studies: very important were those arising from his knowledge of the Danube, documented by the monumental Danubius Pannonico-Mysicus (1726), containing information on geography, ethnology, geology, and hydrology of the Danube regions. As a military, Marsili was in Hungary, where in 1686 participated in the siege and conquest of Buda. Later, he collaborated in the taking of Smederevo and the battle of Vidin. He had an important part in the peace negotiations with the Ottoman Empire in 1691 and later in those that led to the peace of Carlovitz; it was him among other things to lead the demarcation commission on behalf of the Austrian Empire to establish the borders with the Ottoman Empire. The career of Marsili, who in the meantime had reached the rank of colonel and had been wounded during the siege of Belgrade (1688), was abruptly interrupted during the War of the Spanish Succession when, commanded to defend Breisach under the orders of Count d'Arco, after the fall of the fortress he was tried together with his commander. The latter, judged guilty of having capitulated before the necessary, was beheaded; Marsili was demoted and stripped of his goods (February 18, 1704). He was rehabilitated many years later, but never returned to military life, except for a brief interval. He spent his last years in Bologna, and donated to the city of his birth all the material collected during his research, thus giving rise to the Institute of Sciences in 1712. Six professors were appointed to manage the different branches of the Institute, which later will be equipped with a printing house able to print documents, as well as with the Latin alphabet, with the Greek alphabet, Hebrew and Arabic. The Academy of Sciences was closely linked to the Institute. The donation of the rich material accumulated during his travels and research gave life to the first nucleus of the museum of the Institute, to which were added the museums of Aldrovandi and Cospi. In Bologna, he also created a Geography and Nautical Chamber. For two years he stayed in France, on the coasts of Provence, and methodical observations on the phenomena of the sea were used for the Histoire physique de la mer (1725), considered the first scientific treatise on hydrography. During a stay in Maderno, on Lake Garda (1725), he made a series of systematic observations, composing them in a operetta, Osservazioni fisiche sul lago di Garda, which is considered the first purely scientific work on the lake, considered the first scientific work of limnology and hydrobiology. He was elected a fellow of the Académie française and of the Royal Society (to which he was introduced by Isaac Newton).

Luigi Ferdinando MARSILI (Bologna - 10 luglio 1658, Bologna - 1 novembre 1730)

Luigi Ferdinando Marsili or Luigi Ferdinando Marsigli was an Italian scientist, military, geologist and botanist. He belonged to an aristocratic family of Bologna, being cadet son of Count Carlo Francesco Marsili and his wife Margherita Hercolani. He did not make regular studies, but he procured a vast culture by attending the University of Bologna and Padua, and studying mathematics, anatomy and natural sciences with distinguished teachers, such as Geminiano Montanari and Marcello Malpighi. He began to travel very early, associating scientific observations with the collection of data on military organization. In 1671, he went to Naples where he visited the Campi Flegrei and climbed Mount Vesuvius. In 1679 he went to Constantinople, then capital of the Ottoman Empire, where he stayed about a year. Result of the return trip, through the Balkan Peninsula, were the observations around the Bosphorus Thracian or true channel of Constantinople (1680). In 1682 he enlisted in the army of Emperor Leopold I, was wounded and taken prisoner by the Turks in an action on the river Rába, and sold as a slave to a Pasha whom he accompanied to the battle of Vienna. After wanderings and hardships, he was ransomed in 1684, returning to military life as an engineer. Marsili's activity consisted mainly in the study and design of fortifications and other works of military engineering such as roads and bridges, in the preparation of siege works, in the survey of topographical plans, and in logistical preparations. The military activity allowed him to continue his studies: very important were those arising from his knowledge of the Danube, documented by the monumental Danubius Pannonico-Mysicus (1726), containing information on geography, ethnology, geology, and hydrology of the Danube regions. As a military, Marsili was in Hungary, where in 1686 participated in the siege and conquest of Buda. Later, he collaborated in the taking of Smederevo and the battle of Vidin. He had an important part in the peace negotiations with the Ottoman Empire in 1691 and later in those that led to the peace of Carlovitz; it was him among other things to lead the demarcation commission on behalf of the Austrian Empire to establish the borders with the Ottoman Empire. The career of Marsili, who in the meantime had reached the rank of colonel and had been wounded during the siege of Belgrade (1688), was abruptly interrupted during the War of the Spanish Succession when, commanded to defend Breisach under the orders of Count d'Arco, after the fall of the fortress he was tried together with his commander. The latter, judged guilty of having capitulated before the necessary, was beheaded; Marsili was demoted and stripped of his goods (February 18, 1704). He was rehabilitated many years later, but never returned to military life, except for a brief interval. He spent his last years in Bologna, and donated to the city of his birth all the material collected during his research, thus giving rise to the Institute of Sciences in 1712. Six professors were appointed to manage the different branches of the Institute, which later will be equipped with a printing house able to print documents, as well as with the Latin alphabet, with the Greek alphabet, Hebrew and Arabic. The Academy of Sciences was closely linked to the Institute. The donation of the rich material accumulated during his travels and research gave life to the first nucleus of the museum of the Institute, to which were added the museums of Aldrovandi and Cospi. In Bologna, he also created a Geography and Nautical Chamber. For two years he stayed in France, on the coasts of Provence, and methodical observations on the phenomena of the sea were used for the Histoire physique de la mer (1725), considered the first scientific treatise on hydrography. During a stay in Maderno, on Lake Garda (1725), he made a series of systematic observations, composing them in a operetta, Osservazioni fisiche sul lago di Garda, which is considered the first purely scientific work on the lake, considered the first scientific work of limnology and hydrobiology. He was elected a fellow of the Académie française and of the Royal Society (to which he was introduced by Isaac Newton).