Marvellous Natural Particulars: Testimony, Rumour, and Proof in Ulisse Aldrovandi's Work

This essay investigates the role of orality in the work of the Bolognese naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi. By examining a series of examples related to unknown and wondrous species like dragons and exotic fish, I aim to highlight how rumours, testimony, and proof intersected in oral and written sources produced in the sixteenth century. Rumours and descriptions of monstrous animals (real or fake) circulated widely, making the realm of the possible much broader in the early modern period than it is today. Aldrovandi avidly sought out unusual specimens: their rarity, as well as the challenges of classifying them, made the search for such creatures a natural goal for him. I contend that for early modern naturalists like Aldrovandi hearsay had a heuristic value even if this was not at par with direct experience. It was part of the way new knowledge was constructed and compared with classical sources and first-hand experience. I therefore argue that reliance upon hearsay and second-hand information, both from expert informants and from unverified sources, contributed significantly to the production of new knowledge in the work of Aldrovandi and other sixteenth-century naturalists.