Paris, Charles Estienne, 1555. Oblong 8vo (10.0 x 16.4 cm). [xxxvii], 448 pp.; 184 fine woodcuts. 17th-century full calf. Spine with gilt floral vignettes and title; boards with blind-tooled borders and gilt corner pieces. Edges speckled red.

The birth of modern ichthyology, by the French naturalist and explorer Pierre Belon du Mans (born 1517; murdered in Paris, 1564). Rare first French edition and his main work on fishes and other marine life, with all the fine woodcuts, in contemporary hand-colouring. In addition to fish, it includes marine mammals, and many invertebrates, chiefly molluscs. This work was first published before similar ones by Gesner and Salviani. The species are well described. The illustrations were mostly after nature. Many species illustrated were of economic and culinary interest. Belon states that during his stay in Padua he was accustomed to leave home every Thursday evening and travel all night by boat, so as to reach Venice next morning. There he stayed for Saturday and Sunday, employing his time with observation of fishes and discussions with fishermen. On Sunday night he took a boat again and was back to his studies by Monday morning. When paying a visit to England, he met the Venetian ambassador Daniele Barbaro, who showed him some 300 drawings of fishes of the Adriatic and permitted Belon to copy them. The woodcuts are generally attributed to Pierre Gourdelle, who is also mentioned in Belon's work on birds. A few small, skilful repairs to the binding; the leather showing some craquelure, a few pages s trifle shaved (as often), otherwise very good. A very attractive copy. Another coloured copy was sold in auction in 1995 at GBP 19,550, and another in 2003 at US$ 25,200. Dean III, p. 217; Nissen, Schöne Fischbücher, 14; Nissen ZBI 303; Wood, p. 230.