Conrad Gesner. Historiae Animalium - Animal stories. Biography of Conrad Gesner Conrad Gesner, a scientist encyclopedist from Switzerland, created

Conrad Gesner
Conrad Gesner
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Wildlife taxonomist

The names of the plants described by him may be marked with the abbreviation "Gesner"

Conrad Gesner, or Gessner(German) Conrad Gesner, and Konrad Gesner, Konrad Gessner, Konrad Gesner, Conrad Gessner, Conrad Gesner, Conrad von Gesner, Conradus Gesnerus; , Zurich - , ibid.) - Swiss scientist-encyclopedist, one of the first to try to systematize the information accumulated by humanity about animals and plants.

Biography

In 1545 Gesner published a treatise on the benefits of milk, to which he attached a letter to a friend praising the mountains as nature's storehouse. Ten years later Gesner described the climb to Mount Pilatus. This allows us to consider him one of the fathers of mountaineering.

Gesner made one of the first attempts to classify plants ( Enchiridion historiae plantarum,): he divided the plant kingdom based on the characteristics of the flower and the seed; separated class, order, genus and species, thereby outlining the principles of binary nomenclature.

The most famous is Gesner's seminal work on zoology. Historia animalium(started in , the last volume 22 was published after the author’s death). Gesner's views as a zoologist influenced Rudolf-Jacob Camerarius, Carl Linnaeus, and Georges Cuvier.

In work on comparative linguistics Mithridates. De differentiis linguarum tum ueterum, tum quae hodie apud diuersas nationes in toto orbe terrarum usu sunt(, 21 volumes) Gesner described all 130 languages known to Europe of his time. This approach was further developed by Johann Christoph Adelung. Work Bibliotheca universalis sea catalogas omnium scriptorum locupletissimus in tribas linguis, Graeca, Latina et Hebraica etc. The "General Library" (1545-1555) laid the foundations of bibliography and was of great importance for the history of literature.

Memory

Gesner's portrait was placed on the 50 Swiss franc banknote, which was in circulation from 1978 to 2000.

Named after Gesner

Gesneria ( Gesneria) - type genus of the family Gesneriaceae ( Gesneriaceae Plum.)
Valerian Gesner ( Valeriana × gesneri Brügger)

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Notes

Literature

Gesner, Conrad // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
M. L. Sergeev. Conrad Gessner (1516-1565) as a bibliographer // Acta linguistica Petropolitana. Proceedings of the Institute for Linguistic Research. T. IV, 1. St. Petersburg: Nauka, 2008.P. 527-537.
M. L. Sergeev. Commentary on the consideration of Gaulish names in “Mithridates” (1555) by Conrad Gessner // Indo-European linguistics and classical philology - XIV. Part 2. St. Petersburg: Nauka, 2010. pp. 292-304.

Excerpt characterizing Gesner, Conrad

– You have a Duty, Svetodarushka... Just like I do. You must survive. Whatever it takes. Because if you are gone too, it will mean that your father and mother died in vain. That scoundrels and cowards won our war... You have no right to this, my boy!
- You're wrong, uncle. I have my right to this, since this is my life! And I will not allow anyone to write laws for it in advance. My father lived his short life subject to the will of others... Just like my poor mother. Only because, by someone else’s decision, they saved those who hated them. I do not intend to submit to the will of one person, even if this person is my own grandfather. This is my life, and I will live it as I consider necessary and honest!.. Sorry, Uncle Radan!
Svetodar got excited. His young mind rebelled against the influence of others on his own destiny. According to the law of youth, he wanted to decide for himself, not allowing someone from the outside to influence his valuable life. Radan only smiled sadly, watching his courageous pet... Svetodar had enough of everything - strength, intelligence, endurance and perseverance. He wanted to live his life honestly and openly... only, unfortunately, he did not yet understand that there could be no open war with those who were hunting him. Simply because they were the ones who had neither honor, nor conscience, nor heart...
- Well, in your own way you are right, my boy... This is your life. And no one can live it except you... I am sure you will live it with dignity. Just be careful, Svetodar - the blood of your father flows in you, and our enemies will never give up to destroy you. Take care of yourself, my dear.
Patting his nephew on the shoulder, Radan sadly stepped aside and disappeared behind a ledge of a stone rock. A second later, a scream and heavy scuffling were heard. Something fell heavily to the ground and there was silence... Svetodar rushed towards the sound, but it was too late. On the stone floor of the cave, two bodies lay clutched in a final embrace, one of which was a man unfamiliar to him, dressed in a cloak with a red cross, the second was... Radan. With a piercing cry, Svetodar rushed to his uncle’s body, which lay completely motionless, as if life had already left him, without even allowing him to say goodbye. But, as it turned out, Radan was still breathing.
- Uncle, please don’t leave me!.. Not you... I beg you, don’t leave me, uncle!
Svetodar bewilderedly squeezed him in his strong manly embrace, gently rocking him like a small child. Just as Radan once rocked him so many times... It was clear that life was leaving Radan, drop by drop flowing from his weakened body like a golden stream... And even now, knowing that he was dying, he was only worried about one thing - how to save Svetodar... How to explain to him in these remaining few seconds what he was never able to convey in all his long twenty-five years?.. And how will he tell Maria and Radomir, there, in that other one, an unfamiliar world, that he could not save himself, that their son was now left completely alone?..

Radan's Dagger

– Listen, son... This man is not a Knight Templar. – Radan said hoarsely, pointing to the dead man. - I know them all - he is a stranger... Tell this to Gundomer... He will help... Find them... or they will find you. And best of all, go away, Svetodarushka... Go to the Gods. They will protect you. This place is filled with our blood... there is too much of it here... go away, dear...
Slowly, Radan's eyes closed. A knight's dagger fell to the ground with a ringing sound from the loosened, powerless hand. It was very unusual... Svetodar took a closer look - this simply could not be!.. Such a weapon belonged to a very narrow circle of knights, only those who once personally knew John - at the end of the handle there was a gilded crowned head...
Svetodar knew for sure that Radan had not had this blade for a long time (it had once remained in the body of his enemy). So today, in self-defense, he grabbed the killer’s weapon?.. But how could it fall into the wrong hands?! Could any of the Temple knights he knew betray the cause for which they all lived?! Svetodar did not believe in this. He knew these people as he knew himself. None of them could have committed such base vileness. They could only be killed, but it was impossible to force them to betray. In this case, who was the person who owned this special dagger?!
Radan lay motionless and calm. All earthly worries and bitterness left him forever... Hardened over the years, his face smoothed out, again resembling that joyful young Radan, whom Golden Maria loved so much, and whom his dead brother, Radomir, adored with all his soul... He again seemed happy and bright , as if there was no terrible misfortune nearby, as if everything was joyful and calm again in his soul...
Svetodar stood on his knees without saying a word. His dead body only quietly swayed from side to side, as if helping himself to withstand, to survive this heartless, vile blow... Here, in the same cave, eight years ago Magdalena passed away... And now he was saying goodbye to his last loved one , remaining truly all alone. Radan was right - this place absorbed too much of their family blood... It was not for nothing that even the streams turned crimson... as if wanting to tell him to leave... And never come back.
I was shaking with some strange fever... It was scary! This was completely unacceptable and incomprehensible - after all, we were called people!!! And there must be somewhere a limit to human meanness and betrayal?
- How could you live with this for so long, Sever? All these years, knowing this, how did you manage to remain so calm?!
He just smiled sadly, without answering my question. And I, sincerely amazed at the courage and perseverance of this wonderful man, discovered for myself a completely new side of his selfless and hard life... his unyielding and pure soul...
– Several more years have passed since Radan’s murder. Svetodar avenged his death by finding the killer. As he suspected, it was not one of the Knights Templar. But they never knew who the man sent to them really was. Only one thing became known - before killing Radan, he also vilely destroyed the magnificent, bright Knight who had been with them from the very beginning. He destroyed him only in order to take possession of his cloak and weapons, and to create the impression that Radan was killed by his own...
The accumulation of these bitter events poisoned Svetodar’s soul with losses. He had only one consolation left - his pure, true love... His sweet, gentle Margarita... She was a wonderful Qatari girl, a follower of the teachings of the Golden Mary. And she somehow subtly reminded Magdalene... Either it was the same long golden hair, or the softness and leisurelyness of her movements, or maybe just the tenderness and femininity of her face, but Svetodar very often caught himself looking for She has long-gone memories that are dear to her heart... A year later, they had a girl. They named her Maria.
As was promised to Radan, little Maria was taken to nice, courageous people - the Cathars - whom Svetodar knew very well and whom he completely trusted. They pledged to raise Maria as their daughter, no matter what it cost them, and no matter what it threatened them with. Since then, this has been the case - as soon as a new child was born in the line of Radomir and Magdalena, he was given to be raised by people whom the “holy” church did not know and did not suspect. And this was done in order to preserve their priceless lives, to give them the opportunity to live out their lives to the end. No matter how happy or sad he may be...
– How could they give away their children, Sever? Have their parents never seen them again?.. – I asked in shock.
- Well, why didn’t you see it? We saw it. It’s just that each fate turned out differently... Later, some of the parents generally lived nearby, especially the mothers. And sometimes there were cases that they were arranged even with the same people who raised their child. They lived differently... Only one thing never changed - the servants of the church did not get tired of following their trail, like bloodhounds, not missing the slightest opportunity to destroy the parents and children who carried the blood of Radomir and Magdalena, fiercely hating even themselves for this a small, newly born child...
– How often did their descendants die? Has anyone ever stayed alive and lived their life to the end? Did you help them, North? Did Meteora help them?.. – I literally bombarded him with a hail of questions, unable to stop my burning curiosity.
North thought for a moment, then said sadly:
“We tried to help... but many of them didn’t want to.” I think that the news about the father who gave his son to die lived in their hearts for centuries, neither forgiving us nor forgetting us. The pain can be severe, Isidora. She doesn't forgive mistakes. Especially those that cannot be fixed...
– Did you know any other of these marvelous descendants, Sever?
- Well, of course, Isidora! We knew everyone, but we didn’t get to see everyone. I think you knew some of them too. But will you allow me to finish about Svetodar first? His fate turned out to be difficult and strange. Would you be interested to know about her? – I just nodded, and Sever continued... – After the birth of his wonderful daughter, Svetodar finally decided to fulfill Radan’s wish... Do you remember, dying, Radan asked him to go to the Gods?
– Yes, but was it serious?!.. To what “gods” could he send him? There have been no living Gods on Earth for a long time!..
– You’re not entirely right, my friend... This may not be exactly what people mean by Gods, but on Earth there is always someone who temporarily takes their place. Who is watching so that the Earth does not come to a cliff, and life on it does not come to a terrible and premature end. The world has not yet been born, Isidora, you know this. The earth still needs constant help. But people should not know about this... They should choose themselves. Otherwise, help will only bring harm. Therefore, Radan was not so wrong in sending Svetodar to those who are watching. He knew that Svetodar would never come to us. So I tried to save him, to protect him from misfortune. Svetodar was, after all, a direct descendant of Radomir, his first-born son. He was the most dangerous of all because he was the closest. And if he had been killed, this wonderful and bright Family would never have continued.
Having said goodbye to his sweet, affectionate Margarita, and rocking little Maria for the last time, Svetodar set off on a very long and difficult journey... To an unfamiliar northern country, to where the one to whom Radan sent him lived. And whose name was the Wanderer...
Many more years will pass before Svetodar returns home. He will return to perish... But he will live a full and vibrant Life... He will gain Knowledge and Understanding of the world. He will find what he has been searching for so long and persistently...
I will show them to you, Isidora... I will show you something that I have never shown to anyone before.
There was a whiff of coldness and spaciousness all around, as if I had unexpectedly plunged into eternity... The feeling was unusual and strange - at the same time it emanated joy and anxiety... I seemed small and insignificant to myself, as if someone wise and huge at that time watched me for a moment, trying to understand who dared to disturb his peace. But soon this feeling disappeared, and only a large and deep, “warm” silence remained...
In an emerald, endless clearing, two people sat cross-legged opposite each other... They sat with their eyes closed, without uttering a word. And yet, it was clear - they were saying...
I understood - their thoughts were speaking... My heart was beating wildly, as if wanting to jump out!.. Having tried to somehow gather myself and calm down, so as not to in any way disturb these gathered people who had gone into their mysterious world, I watched them with bated breath, trying remember their images in my soul, because I knew that this would not happen again. Apart from the North, no one else will show me what was so closely connected with our past, with our suffering, but not giving up Earth...
One of those sitting looked very familiar, and, of course, having taken a good look at him, I immediately recognized Svetodar... He had hardly changed, only his hair became shorter. But his face remained almost as young and fresh as on the day when he left Montsegur... The second one was also relatively young and very tall (which was visible even while sitting). His long, white hair, dusted with frost, fell onto his broad shoulders, glowing pure silver under the rays of the sun. This color was very unusual for us - as if it wasn’t real... But what struck us most were his eyes - deep, wise and very large, they shone with the same pure silvery light... As if someone with a generous hand had scattered myriads of silver stars into them. .. The stranger’s face was tough and at the same time kind, collected and detached, as if at the same time he was living not only our Earthly life, but also some other, someone else’s life...
If I understood correctly, this was exactly the one whom the North called the Wanderer. The one who watched...
Both were dressed in long white and red clothes, belted with a thick, twisted, red cord. The world around this unusual couple swayed smoothly, changing its shape, as if they were sitting in some closed, oscillating space, accessible only to the two of them. The air all around was fragrant and cool, it smelled of forest herbs, spruces and raspberries... A light, occasional breeze gently caressed the lush tall grass, leaving in it the smells of distant lilacs, fresh milk and cedar cones... The land here was so surprisingly safe , pure and kind, as if worldly worries did not touch her, human malice did not penetrate into her, as if a deceitful, changeable person had never set foot there...

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Conrad Gesner(Gesner) (26.3.1516, Zurich, - 13.12.1565, ibid.), Swiss naturalist, philologist and bibliographer. From 1537 he was a professor in Lausanne, and from 1541 he was a doctor in Zurich, where he died of the plague. Author of Historiae Animalium (History of Animals) (vols. 1-5, 1551-1587), the first zoological encyclopedia of the time.

Conrad Gesner

Based mainly on Aristotle's classification, Gesner described animals in detail in the following order: quadrupeds viviparous and oviparous, birds, fish and aquatic animals, snakes and insects. In each volume, the material is arranged in alphabetical order of animal names; some related forms are grouped around one type animal. Gesner's work played a major role in the dissemination and systematization of zoological knowledge. It has been reprinted and translated several times over the course of more than 100 years. Gesner also collected and studied plants. Published works on philology. Author of the first universal bibliographic work, “The Universal Library” (1545-1555).

(Conrad Gesner, in Latin Gesnerius) - an outstanding multilateral scientist (1516-1565), studied in Zurich, Strasbourg, Bourges and Paris. In 1537 he was elected professor of Greek. language in Lausanne, and then, after a short stay in Montpellier, as a professor of philosophy in Zurich, where he was also engaged in medical practice. His works: "Bibliotheca universalis sea catalogas omnium scriptorum locupletissimus in tribas linguis, Graeca, Latina et Hebraica etc." (Zurich, 1545-55) was of great importance for the history of literature. He also rekindled his love for studying the natural sciences, established a Botanical Garden and laid the foundation for the first natural history. to the museum. He also made one of the first attempts to classify plants: he divided the plant kingdom based on the characteristics of the flower and the seed. G.'s most important works on natural science: “Historia animalium” (Zur., 1550-87), “Opera botanica” (Nuremn., 1753-59). In addition, G. wrote about healing springs, about medicines, about the nature and affinity of languages, and published and commented on many ancient authors.

See Hanhart, "Konrad Gesner" (1824).

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In 1541 Conrad Gesner created one of the first plant classifications - Enchiridion historiae plantarum.

In 1545-1555 Conrad Gesner created the first universal bibliographic work: "Universal Library" which contains descriptions 15 thousand books by Latin, Greek, Jewish authors.

“Over the centuries, the work of bibliographers—people who provide guidance to readers—has become more complex and improved, and the flow of bibliographic aids has increased. During the Renaissance, humanist and scientist Conrad Gesner created the famous “Universal Library”, a work in which about 15 thousand publications in all branches of science three thousands of authors. This work is rightfully considered the pinnacle among other bibliographic works of that time. On the back of the title page is an appeal to readers, which ends with the following couplet:

Not for myself, but for general studies, I compiled this,

And even then an apt definition appeared: “Bibliography is the key to all knowledge.”

Glukhov A.G., From the compiler, in Sat.: Bibliography in my life / Ed.-comp. A.G. Glukhov, M., “Book”, 1984, p. 6.

“In 1545, a book was published in Basel Conrad Gesner, to which he gave a long title: “The Universal Library, or a Complete Catalog of all the works in three languages - Latin, Greek and Hebrew, preserved and not preserved, old and new down to the present day, learned and unlearned, open to everyone and hidden in libraries . A new work, necessary not only for the establishment of public and private libraries, but also extremely useful for everyone who cares about the better study of any art or science.”

"Universal Library" - quite a rare edition. In Moscow you can get acquainted with him in the Scientific Library of Moscow State University.

On the back of the title page there is a couplet - a kind of epigraph to the book:

I compiled this not for myself, but for general studies
So, bees, you are not making honey for yourself.

The book opens with a dedication to the prominent official and philanthropist Leonard Beck von Bekenstein. Here Gesner talks about the reasons that prompted him to start compiling the “Universal Library”. Everything in the world is transitory. Even the largest book depositories are not protected from the destructive influence of time.

This is how the famous Library of Alexandria perished in its time. And in recent times (from the point of view Conrad Gesner) times libraries perished, such as, for example, the wonderful collection of the Hungarian king Matthew Corvinus, which contained many Latin, Greek and Hebrew manuscripts. Many works of the great writers and scientists of antiquity in the 16th century were known only by their titles. True, with the invention of printing it became easier to preserve the collective memory of humanity. But publishers, according to Gesner, print a lot of unnecessary things. But important works worthy of a printing press remain in manuscripts. In order to record on paper the entire body of knowledge then known and to facilitate everyone’s access to the necessary books, Gesner undertook his hard work.

Here, in essence, the general tasks of bibliography were formulated, which remain the same today.

The introductory dedication also discussed the sources of the work. Gesner preferred to get acquainted with books not through references in other people’s works, but personally or, as bibliographers say, de visu. To do this, he visited the largest libraries of that time - the Vatican in Rome, the Monastery of the Savior in Bologna, the Medici collection in Florence, got acquainted with the book depositories of the capital of the then cultural world - Venice, and among them the Marciana library. I also visited the Royal Library of Paris. Gesner also used lists of references that could be found in the works of ancient and medieval writers.

The “Universal Library” was a list of famous Conrad Gesner ancient and contemporary figures of science and literature. Information about them was placed in the alphabet of names. It is necessary, however, to keep in mind that Gesner took as a basis not the surname, but the name of his hero. So, for example, an article about Nicolaus Copernicus in the “Universal Library” you need to look not for “K” (more precisely, for “C” in Latin), but for “N”.

Whom we will not find in the work of Conrad Gesner: Plato and Nicholas of Cusa, Homer and Erasmus of Rotterdam, Euripides and Philip Melanchthon, Petrarch and Blessed Jerome...

Minimal biographical information is provided about each author and a list of his works is provided. Printed books are given fairly detailed bibliographic descriptions, which indicate the time and place of publication, format, number of volumes, etc.

Sometimes a bibliographic reference develops into a small study. The greatest authority of antiquity, Aristotle, whose works formed the basis of medieval university education, is given 40 pages in Gesner’s book.

Gesner often cites excerpts from the works described in the “Universal Library”. Speaking about manuscripts, he gives a brief description of them and indicates where they are kept. This was done, as he says, in order to help publishers find these works if they decide to publish them.

The undoubted limitation of the “Universal Library” is that it takes into account works only in the so-called classical languages - Latin, Greek and Hebrew. We won't find any "Divine Comedy" here. Dante Alighieri, although, of course, there is an article about him, not “The Decameron” Giovanni Boccaccio.

If Gesner nevertheless takes into account works in national languages (as was done in the article about the great reformer Martin Luther), he translates their titles into Latin. True, in 1561, in the preface to Joseph Mahler’s essay “On the German Language,” Gesner stated that he wanted to compile a German “Universal Library,” which would include information about authors who wrote in this language. But he did not manage to fulfill this promise.

Volume of work done Conrad Gesner the work is colossal. The Universal Library describes more
12 thousand books written by 3 thousand authors.

The continuation of the “Universal Library” was a work published in 1548 in Zurich entitled “Twenty-one Books of Pandects, or General Divisions.”

Right on the title page there is an explanation from the author: “To the readers. This volume is our second Library, containing for all philosophy and all arts and knowledge Subjects and general, and at the same time private Classes.” The Twenty-One Books of Pandect is a systematic index of the books described in the Universal Library. The most interesting thing in this work is the classification scheme developed by Konrad Gesner. According to the famous bibliologist Evgeniy Ivanovich Shamurin (1889-1962), it is with this scheme that “essentially the history of Western European bibliographic classification begins.”

Let us remind the reader that large modern libraries store millions of books. To find the one that is needed, the reader, who does not know either the title or the name of the author, needs a systematic index, which is based on the classification of human knowledge. Throughout the history of book publishing, many such classifications have been proposed. Classification Conrad Gesner a - one of the first.

Gesner divided the entire system of human knowledge into 21 classes. He called these divisions “books.” Here is what some of them are called: “On Grammar”, “On Dialectics”, “On Rhetoric”, “On Poetics”, “On Arithmetic”, “On Geometry”, “On Music”, “On Astronomy”, “On Astrology” ”, “On divination, both acceptable and unacceptable, and on magic”, “On geography”, “On various arts, mechanical and others, useful for human life”... In each “book”, in turn, more subdivisions were allocated. So, for example, in the section “About various arts” there were headings: “About architecture”, “About houses and their parts”, “About processing of silver and gold”, “About glass and mirrors”, “About shipbuilding”, “About agriculture" and many, many others.

For the convenience of readers, Gesner also compiled an alphabetical index of the headings of the classification scheme. The total number of headings in its classification is over 3,500.

One more feature of the “Twenty-one Books of Pandect” must be mentioned. Gesner accompanied each “book” with a dedication to a publisher or printer. And after the dedication he gave a list of books published by this printer. These texts should be considered the beginning of a retrospective publishing bibliography.

In 1545, Christoph Froschauer published the third part of the bibliographic work of Konrad Gesner, which was called: “Theological divisions, the last book of the universal Pandects.” The fourth part - “Addition to the Library of Konrad Gesner” - was published in 1555. The bibliography here has been supplemented with descriptions of books published after 1545. With all these additions, the number of books described by Gesner reached 15 thousand.

Bibliographic work Conrad Gesner actively used by descendants for many decades. It was supplemented, shortened, processed, compiled, but - alas! - they never thought of just republishing it.

Died Conrad Gesner December 13, 1565, having contracted the plague from one of his patients. His friend said that, being seriously ill, the scientist did not want to go to bed and worked until the last day.”

Nemirovsky E.L., Big book about the book, M., “Time”, 2010, p. 314-317.

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Swiss encyclopedist.

Son of a furrier; father was killed during the Second Kappell War (1531). Conrad was raised by his uncle, who instilled in him a taste for literature and botany.

Protestant friends, primarily Heinrich Bullinger, helped the young man study in Zurich, Basel, Strasbourg, Bourges, Paris and Montpellier.

In 1537 he was elected professor of Greek in Lausanne.

In 1541 he received the degree of Doctor of Medicine.

In 1557 he was appointed professor of natural philosophy in Zurich, where he also practiced medicine.

Gesner established the Botanical Garden and laid the foundation for the first natural history museum.

He died during a plague epidemic while treating the infected.

Gesner made one of the first attempts to classify plants (Enchiridion historiae plantarum, 1541): he divided the plant kingdom based on the characteristics of the flower and the seed; separated class, order, genus and species, thereby outlining the principles of binary nomenclature.

The fame of one of the fathers of botany came to him posthumously when his work Opera botanica (Vol. 1-2, 1754, 1759) was published in Nuremberg. Carl Linnaeus considered Gesner's choice of the generative organs of plants (flower, fruit and seed) as the basis for their classification to be the greatest discovery in botanical science. It was this principle that was consistently implemented in Linnaean plant taxonomy.

While studying plants, Gesner made thousands of sketches of shoots, flowers and fruits. Thanks to constant exercise of his hand and eye, he achieved great accuracy in drawing. Discovering subtle details of the structure of organs, peering into shades of paint, Gesner identified signs important for the diagnosis of species, thereby developing a method of cognition, improving not only the quality of scientific drawing, but also the concepts of organography and systematics. Gesner's original drawings are less conventional than the woodcuts that illustrated his natural scientific works.

Work Bibliotheca universalis sea catalogas omnium scriptorum locupletissimus in tribas linguis, Graeca, Latina et Hebraica etc. (1545-1555) laid the foundations of bibliography and was of great importance for the history of literature.

The most famous is Gesner's fundamental work on zoology, Historia animalium (started in 1551, the last 22nd volume was published after the author's death). Gesner's views as a zoologist influenced Rudolf-Jacob Camerarius, Carl Linnaeus, and Georges Cuvier.

An approach presented in his work on comparative linguistics Mithridates. De differentiis linguarum tum ueterum, tum quae hodie apud diuersas nationes in toto orbe terrarum usu sunt (1555, 21 volumes), was developed by Johann Christoph Adelung.

Borges repeatedly turned to the works of Gesner in his fantastic “Bestiary”, as well as in fantasies on the topics of universal grammar and world language.