"All those with an interest in the emergent understanding of natural history in the sixteenth century will know something of Ulisse Aldrovandi, prolific collector, author and illustrator of a world in which new phenomena were revealed on a daily basis. Peter Mason presents a penetrating portrait of the man himself, extending his discussion to include Aldrovandi's all-important network of correspondents, his field practice and his attempts to order the natural world with the aid of his vast museum and archive. In this engaging, sympathetically written and densely illustrated volume, peppered with key passages abstracted into English (many for the first time) from Aldrovandi's publications and from his vast personal correspondence, the reader is presented with an astonishingly detailed picture not only of the working methods but of the social and the scholarly milieu inhabited by this highly original figure from the early history of natural science."–Arthur MacGregor, author of 'Company Curiosities: Nature, Culture and the East India Company, 1600-1874'
