The second edition (the first was published in 1715) of a pioneering monograph on elephants and their importance in human life....

PETRI ab HARTENFELS Georg Christoph - Elephantographia Curiosa, editio altera auctior et emendatior, cum multis figuris aeneis, cui accessit ejusdem auctoris oratio panegyrica de elephantis, publice in actu doctorali erfordiae habita; nec non Justi Lipsii epistola de eodem argumento erudite conscripta. In fine adjectus est Index rerum notabilium locupletissimus. Lipsiae et Erfordiae 1723. typis & impensis Joh. Mich. Funckii. 4, pp. [30], 284, 20, [19], frontispiece in copperplate, plate 28. bound in period perg. stained trim.
Parchment slightly creased, corner of rear cover creased, good condition. Trace of an ex-libris on the front pastedown. Second edition (the first was published in 1715) of a pioneering monograph on elephants and their importance in human life. The author collected all the information available at the time (until the beginning of the 18th century) about the elephant and, based on this and his own research, gave a detailed description of the species, taking into account the differences between the Indian and African elephants. He divided the treatise into three parts, the first of which discusses the known fossils, anatomy and physiology of elephants. The next is devoted to elephants' behavior, temperament, and intelligence. The final chapter shows the role of the elephant in human life: in war and hunting, in religion, agriculture. At the beginning of the book is a striking frontispiece containing six medallions depicting, among other things, a fight between a dragon and an elephant and an elephant used in battle. Inside are 28 full-page engravings showing the methods of capturing and taming elephants and their role in trade, war, heavy labor, sports, as well as anatomical details of the animal. One panel depicts elephants as executioners carrying out a death sentence, while another depicts the worship of the Indian god Ganesa with a human body with an elephant's head. The engravings according to Tobias Jacob Hilderbrandt were engraved by Jacob Petrus, both artists active in Erfurt.