Zwierzęta w książce dawnej
Animals in early printed books

In search for the content and images

Author(s): Izabela Wiencek-Sielska
Subject(s): Cultural history, Studies of Literature, Polish Literature, 16th Century, 17th Century, 18th Century, Theory of Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: early printed books; Polonica; animals; zoological subject; illustrations; old iconography; thematic queries
Summary/Abstract: The first part of the article includes advice on how to search for content and images on zoological topics in old books on the example of the collection of early printed books in the Warsaw University Library. It is followed by the summary results of the thematic query conducted in the Early Printed Book department of the Warsaw University Library, as a result of which 90 Polish books containing zoological threads and published between 16th and 18th centuries were selected. The author attempted to organize the publication according to the adopted content and genre division. Then, in short chapters several issues were signalled, which seem worth further scientific deepening. They are, among others: heraldic animals (whose images are also used in so-called stemmata, emblems and superexlibris), star signs and constellations, fantastic creatures, monsters and beasts (which were present in many Renaissance books as zoomorphic ornaments), the characteristics of wild and breeding animals left by 16th century authors, and various contexts in which a zoological thread is present in old herbaria.

• Details
• Contents