This Sunday, September 28th, marks the 290th anniversary of Artedi’s seemingly accidental drowning in an Amsterdam canal. The life and work of this undeservingly unknown zoologist and ichthyologist – a long time friend and collaborator of Carl Linnaeus – is now openly available in a two volume publication.
With the publication of Peter Artedi: Reformer of 18th Century Zoology, Volume II, the seminal works of Peter Artedi (1705-1735) are now accessible to a wider scholarly audience. Long regarded as the father of the modern science of ichthyology, Artedi is aptly characterized by author Hans Aili as “world-renowned, yet still unknown”. Presented here in English for the first time, his contributions are of immense significance to ichthyology and of even greater importance to the development of zoology in general.
Volume II offers a complete English translation of Artedi’s Ichthyologia, first edited and published by Carl Linnaeus in 1738. Due to the sheer volume of this work, all introductory material, as well as the Latin editions and translations of Artedi’s three minor works, were included in the previously published Volume I.
About the authors
Professor Emeritus Hans Aili (1947-), a Swedish Latinist, has published scholarly works on stylistic aspects of Classical Latin, and critical editions of the Revelations of St. Birgitta of Sweden and on the history of the Revelations manuscripts (Medieval Latin). In later years he has focused on Neo-Latin as the source language of early modern science, Peter Artedi’s works being his latest major project.
Professor Emeritus Theodore W. Pietsch (1945–), an American evolutionary biologist, has spent most of his career at the University of Washington in Seattle, conducting research primarily in marine ichthyology. He has also published extensively on the history of science.
How to access this book
At the Stockholm University Press website you can download an ePub or pdf-file that allows you to read the book online or access it on multiple devices. You may also order a print copy of the book through the website. DOI: https://doi.org/10.16993/bcv
Studia Latina Stockholmiensia
Studia Latina Stockholmiensia (ISSN 2002-472X) is a peer-reviewed series of scholarly editions of Latin texts as well as monographs and anthologies of Latin studies. While continuing Stockholm University’s tradition of Medieval studies, the series is also open to Latin from the Ancient and the Modern periods.
Stockholm University Press Blog 