ABSTRACT
This chapter is about the ichthyological part of the HNB. It addresses Marcgraf's ichthyological descriptions and illustrations, and more specifically the role of “autopsy” (personal observation) in their making. Attention is given to the editing process of Marcgraf's text and illustrations, performed by Johannes de Laet. The chapter also gives some general considerations on the authenticity of the watercolor drawings, conserved in the so-called Libri Principis (now in Kraków), often ascribed to Marcgraf. Moreover, it proposes to see the Historia Naturalis Brasiliae as part of a well-orchestrated strategy of personal, political publicity, meant to confirm the achievements of Johan Maurits, the governor of Dutch Brazil. The chapter concludes with the transnational reception of the ichthyological part of the HNB by some famous ichthyologists: Francis Willughby and John Ray, Marcus Elieser Bloch, and Georges Cuvier. Their reactions make us aware of what is new in Marcgraf's ichthyological preoccupations in the HNB.
