Book Description
This is the first-ever English edition of the naturalist Martin Lister's Tractatus de Araneis, written in Latin and published in 1678. A founder member of the Royal Society and a friend and regular correspondent of his well-known contemporary, John Ray, Lister was highly regarded in his own day and cited by Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae (1758). With the demise of Latin as the language of science, and the ability to read it, so his pioneering contribution to British arachnology has been either overlooked or discounted and he has faded into relative obscurity. John Parker's Introduction chronicles Lister's life and times and assesses Lister's contribution to arachnology. Notes on the translation explain Lister's precise and well-ordered terminology and give further background information. The translation of the Tractatus itself follows. Book 1 is an introductory section devoted to general spider morphology, behaviour, biology and lore. Book 2 - the systematic section - divides spiders first into those with two and those with eight eyes, and then by their methods of obtaining prey - either by web-building or hunting in the open. Each species' description is followed by an editorial Species Note commenting on Lister's observations, several of which are unique. A superb new colour plate by Michael J. Roberts mirrors the original engraved plate; other monochrome plates illustrate some of the most important people and places in Lister's life. An appendix containing relevant correspondence between Lister and his contemporaries is followed by comprehensive references and an index.
