''Dialogus creaturarum'' (more properly ''Dialogus creaturarum optime moralizatus'' or ''Dyalogus creaturarum moralizatus''), is a collection of 122

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

-language

fable Fable is a literary genre: a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are anthropomorphized, and that illustrates or leads to a particular mo ...

s and, as the title implies, dialogues of creatures. The fables are organised in sections according to the different kinds of protagonists: first the astronomical, then the elements, followed by living things. The fables tell of the interactions of various

anthropomorphized Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...

animals and ends with a moral explanation. Common human problems are solved according to the teachings of the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

, church fathers or classical Greek or Roman philosophy. The author is unknown, but surviving manuscripts suggest the fables may have been gathered and edited by either Mayno de Mayneri (Magninus Mediolanensis) or Nicolaus Pergamenus, both active in the 14th century. A number of the fables are from Aesop, such as The Lion's Share,

The Frog and the Ox The Frog and the Ox appears among Aesop's Fables and is numbered 376 in the Perry Index. The story concerns a frog that tries to inflate itself to the size of an ox, but bursts in the attempt. It has usually been applied to socio-economic relati ...

and

The Wolf and the Lamb The Wolf and the Lamb is a well-known fable of Aesop and is numbered 155 in the Perry Index. There are several variant stories of tyrannical injustice in which a victim is falsely accused and killed despite a reasonable defence. The fable and i ...

Publication

The book was first published in 1480 by

Gerard Leeu Gerard or Gheraert Leeu, ''Leew, Lyon'', or ''Leonis'', (between 1445 and 1450, Gouda - 1492, Antwerp) was a Dutch printer of incunabula. Leeu printed his first (liturgical) book in May 1477 in his shop in Gouda, where between 1477 and 1484 he ...

Gouda Gouda may refer to: * Gouda, South Holland, a city in the Netherlands ** Gouda (pottery), style of pottery manufactured in Gouda ** Gouda cheese, type of cheese originally made in and around Gouda ** Gouda railway station * Gouda, Western Cape, a s ...

, and several times reprinted by him. Each tale was illustrated by a woodcut. A second edition followed in 1481. He printed at least three more Latin editions, one more at Gouda in 1482 and two at

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

in 1486 and 1491. He also published two editions in Dutch in 1481 and 1482 and one in French in 1482. In the following year it became the first book printed in Sweden. A first English translation, ''The Dialoges of Creatures Moralysed'', is presently assumed to have been printed in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

in 1535. The popularity of the work is clear from the number of editions published. Other printers soon published Latin texts: Conrad Winters de Homborch in 1481 at

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

, Jean Bellot in 1500 at

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

, Claude Nourry in 1509 at Lyon and Pigouchet in 1510 at Paris. In 1584 the book was printed by de Jode for Plantin as the ''Apologi Creaturarum'', with plates by

Marcus Gheeraerts the Elder Marcus Gheeraerts the Elder, Marc Gerard and Marcus Garret (c. 1520 – c. 1590) was a Flemish painter, draughtsman, print designer and etcher who was active in his native Flanders and in England. He practised in many genres, including portrait ...

. Apolologi Creaturarum sold by auction house
/ref>

References

*

', originally printed in the Illustrated London News in 1844.

External links

''Dyalogus Creaturarum'' - Johann Snell
– excerpts from English translation with original illustrations. {{DEFAULTSORT:Dialogus Creaturarum 1483 books 15th-century Latin books Swedish books Christian literature Fables Incunabula