Bloch’s Ichthyology
This beautifully illustrated work is one of the high points in the early literature of Ichthyology, the study of fishes.
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Marcus Elieser Bloch (1723-1799) was a German physician who later in life devoted himself to the study of natural history, particularly fishes. His Ichtyologie, ou Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière des poissons (1785-1797) is the French edition of his master works on the natural history of the fishes of Germany, and the natural history of foreign fishes. At the time of its publication, this was the most comprehensive work on fishes ever produced and was highly regarded even by later naturalists. In his own Histoire naturelle des poissons (1828) Cuvier declared Bloch to have been “peerless and considered even today one of the primary authors on the natural history of fishes.”
Produced almost concurrently with the German editions, the French version incorporated newer information and reached a greater French-speaking audience. Published in six volumes, it includes 432 engraved plates, each individually hand-coloured.
The Research Library holds the very rare complete set of the folio edition, as well as an octavo edition of six volumes with 216 plates, produced in 1796. This smaller edition was part of the William Swainson collection, which the Museum acquired in 1858.
