''Exoticorum libri decem'' ("Ten books of exotic life forms") is an illustrated zoological and botanical compendium in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, published at

Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

in 1605 by Charles de l'Écluse. On the title page the author's name appears in its well-known Latin form Carolus Clusius. The full title is: ''Exoticorum libri decem, quibus animalium, plantarum, aromatum, aliorumque peregrinorum fructuum historiae describuntur'' ("Ten books of exotica: the history and uses of animals, plants, aromatics and other natural products from distant lands"). Clusius was not only an original biologist but also a remarkable linguist. He became well known as a translator and editor of the works of others. ''Exoticorum libri decem'' consists partly of his own discoveries, partly of translated and edited versions of earlier publications, always properly acknowledged, and with many new illustrations. Separately identifiable within this compendium can be found Clusius's Latin translations, with his own notes, from: *

Garcia de Orta Garcia de Orta (or Garcia d'Orta; 1501–1568) was a Portuguese physician, herbalist, and naturalist, who worked primarily in Goa and Bombay in Portuguese India. A pioneer of tropical medicine, pharmacognosy, and ethnobotany, Garcia used an e ...

, '' Colóquios dos simples e drogas he cousas medicinais da Índia'' (1563) * Nicolás Monardes, '' Historia medicinal de las cosas que se traen de nuestras Indias Occidentales'' (1565–1574) * Cristóbal Acosta, ''Tractado de las drogas y medicinas de las Indias orientales'' (1578) There is also material by

Prospero Alpini Prospero Alpini (also known as Prosper Alpinus, Prospero Alpinio and Latinized as Prosperus Alpinus) (23 November 15536 February 1617) was a Venetian physician and botanist. He travelled around Egypt and served as the fourth prefect in charge of ...

(Prosper Alpinus) with notes by Clusius. As a separately paginated appendix appears Clusius's Latin translation (first published in 1589) of: *

Pierre Belon Pierre Belon (1517–1564) was a French traveller, natural history, naturalist, writer and diplomat. Like many others of the Renaissance period, he studied and wrote on a range of topics including ichthyology, ornithology, botany, comparative anat ...

, ''

Observations Observation in the natural sciences is an act or instance of noticing or perceiving and the acquisition of information from a primary source. In living beings, observation employs the senses. In science, observation can also involve the perceptio ...

'' (1553)

References

Bibliography

*, p. 160.

External links

''Exoticorum libri decem''
at Strasbourg University Library
''Exoticorum libri decem''
at Google Books Florae (publication) Herbals 1605 books 17th-century books in Latin {{botany-book-stub