History of All Cloven-Hoofed Quadrupeds

I, Don Marcellus Baldaffinus, Cleric Regular of the Congregation of Saint Paul, Rector of the Sacred Penitentiary of the Cathedral, and appointed Revisor for the Archbishop’s Court of Bologna, have seen this Volume on Bisulcate Quadrupeds by the most excellent and celebrated Ulisse Aldrovandi; and because it contains nothing against the dogmas of the holy faith, or approved morals, or the rules of the Sacred Index, and since it would bring no small utility to studious men, I have approved that it be committed to the press.

I have seen this volume on Bisulcate Quadrupeds by the most excellent Lord Ulisse Aldrovandi, wrought and fashioned with the greatest care and diligence; and since I have observed therein that studious men will perceive no small utility, nor is anything found in it which is against the Rules of the Pontifical Index, I have therefore judged that it may be committed to the press.

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Summary of the Privilege of His Sacred Imperial Majesty.

By the privilege of His Sacred Imperial Majesty, it is provided that no one may reprint, in whole or in part, any of the histories of Ulisse Aldrovandi of Bologna which treat of animals—and consequently, also of Bisulcate Quadrupeds—without the will and express consent of the author or his heirs, within ten years from the day the completed volume is issued, nor sell such a reprint elsewhere, under penalty, as often as he shall be caught, of the forfeiture of all books and ten marks of pure gold, as more fully appears in the Imperial diploma given in the royal citadel of Prague, on the first day of April, in the year one thousand five hundred and ninety-nine.

Emperor Rudolf.