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NAPOLI 2500: History of a city and its territory

Monday 29 September 2025, 03:00 PM • Rome

168

Scienze naturali - Biologia marina - Zoologia - Cavolini, Filippo

Memoirs to serve the history of marine polyps, 1785

Estimate

€ 200 - 500

Sold

€ 710

The price includes buyer's premium

Information

Naples, SE, 1785. In 4°. 3 parts in 2 volumes. Loose copy with 9 leaves of plates drawn by Caulino and engraved by Benedetto Cimarelli, slight foxing, some browning, very slight halo on the upper white margin of the first quires of volume II, later binding in half parchment and marbled paper with corners.

Specialist Notes

Filippo Cavolini (1756-1810), a Neapolitan naturalist, is considered one of the fathers of marine biology in Italy. In 1785, he published Memorie per servire alla storia de' Polipi marini, the first systematic scientific description of corals and marine colonial organisms. This treatise debunked the then-common belief that corals were petrified plants, demonstrating instead their animal nature. His experimental and observational approach laid the foundation for the development of modern marine zoology.

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