[De natura aquatilium carmen, in universam Gulielmi Rondoletii [...] quam de piscibus marinis scripsit historiam: cum vivis eorum imaginibus, opusculu[m] nunc primum in luce[m] emissum.

Sm. 4to: [4 (of 20)]-240 pp. (title and 7 first ff. missing, marg. staining and soiling with some fraying at fore edge esp. at 1st quires).

Mod. vellum, gilt arms on covers, spine on 5 raised bands with gilt title.

First and only edition of this epitome of G. Rondelet's "Libri des piscibus marinis" (1554-55), by the physician F. Boussuet (1520-1572). Only the first part of two. Ill. with woodcut portr. of the author and 260 fine woodcuts by G. Reverdy, also used in Rondelet's work. They show fish, shells, sharks, crustaceans, tortoises, sea mammals (seals, dolphins, whales, orca, sawfish), squid and octopuses, a harpoon, but also three fantastic aquatic creatures labelled "De Monstro Leonino", "De Pisce Monachi habitu" and "De Pisce Episcopi habitu", resp. looking like a lion with scales, and monk-headed and a bishoplike creatures. Each ill. is captioned by epigrammatic verses by Boussuet on the habitat, behaviour and reproduction of fish, and especially their culinary aspects. Ref. Nissen (ZBI) 511. - Adams 2607. - Mortimer I:118. - Baudrier X:257. - STC French (BL) 80. - Opac KBR. Prov. Count Goblet d'Alviella (gilt arms on both covers; de Jonghe d'Ardoye III:734). - Some 18th-c. notes giving the locations and dates at which certain remarkable fish (i.a. the 2 ecclesiastical creatures) have been seen.