Skip to main content
Historical Bibliography Updated: June 16, 2026

Recreatione dell'occhio e della mente nell'osservation ' delle chiocciole, proposta a curiosi delle opere dell natura.

Publication Details

Rome: per il Varese, 1681 CE.

The first treatise devoted entirely to molluscs, and the first practical guide for shell collectors.
"Bonanni's work is significant for his careful attempts to precisely describe shell morphology. Unfortunately, due to the printing and engraving process, the spirals shown on the shells were reversed from dextral to sinistral, a mirror image problem that later books avoided. Zoological taxonomies of the time were based on visual characteristics, and Bonanni paid special attention to both form and color, and showed details (sometimes fanciful) of the creatures inside the shells. Although his work predated the adoption of Linnaeus' system of binomial nomenclature (genus + species), Bonanni laid the foundation for the new discipline of conchology.[1] Several later Linnaean names were based on Bonanni's work, including the name of the class Bivalvia, which he introduced." (Wikipedia article on Filippo Bonanni, accessed 12-2021).

Thematic Classifications

Catalog MetadataReference Information
Entry Number#13752
Permanent Linkhttps://hom-sveltekit.fly.dev/entry/16036
Author Bio LinkWikipedia ↗
External URLrecreatione-dellocchio-e-della-mente

Geographic Context

Publication place: Rome