Monstrorum Historia

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Overview:

Title: Monstrorum Historia
Author: Ulisse Aldrovandi
Year: 1642
Publisher: Bononiae
Pages: [viii]+748+[28]
Binding: Hardcover
Type: Non-fiction
Title Reference: Monstrorum Historia
Notes: History of monsters, e.g. cyclops, werewolves, and various other human-animal combinations. Mid-way between a house of wonders and a bestiary, "showing many fantastic animals and creatures, mixing up the science with popular fantasy." Often bound with "Paralipomenis Historiae Omnium Animalium" by the same author, which includes a few additional fantastic creatures, but is primarily naturalistic. It is unclear (to this ISFDB editor) to what extent the author knew he was writing of the fantastic, and to what extent he thought he was collecting realistic descriptions. Includes a 28-page unnumbered index. Data from WorldCat, Wikipedia, and Google books.