History of Serpents and Dragons

From the formless Chaos original: "Ab informi Chao" - a classical reference to the state of the universe before creation, the genius of Ulisse Aldrovandi and the study of the most excellent Mr. Bartolomeo Ambrosini have brought forth this treatise on Serpents and Dragons into its current form and appearance. This work has appeared to me to be truly filled with incredible erudition, properly fashioned with tireless labor, and most perfect in all its parts. In it, there is nothing to be changed, nothing to be deleted, nothing to be corrected or polished; it is judged, beyond all doubt and far from any flattery, to be worthy not of censorship, but of all praise. His lofty and commendable learning will not only suffice for practical use with great benefit and profit for students, but will even proceed toward the marvelous and the miraculous. This is the judgment I have made of so great a Doctor, whose pen (may the best God grant) may progress further day by day; meanwhile, I judge by the best right that the present work should be committed to the press, and I subscribe my name.

I, Mr. Ottaviano Finati, Cleric Regular of St. Paul The Barnabites, and Rector of the Holy Penitentiary of Bologna, on behalf of the Most Eminent and Most Reverend Lord Cardinal Archbishop of Bologna.

This work on Serpents and Dragons by the most illustrious Mr. Ulisse Aldrovandi, filled with every kind of learning and elaborated with the singular labor of the most excellent Bartolomeo Ambrosini, and most useful to all, I, the undersigned, have viewed most willingly. And because I have found nothing in it that is repugnant to the faith or to good morals, I therefore judge that it can be given to the typesetters for the common good.

original: "Imprimatur" - the official license to print

Friar Girolamo Onuphrio, Doctor of the College of Sacred Theology and Consultant to the Most Holy Inquisition, on behalf of the Reverend Father Master Paolo de Garrexio, Inquisitor of Bologna.