It was Katharine M. Rogers’ Il gatto  and  Caitlin R. Kight’s Il fenicottero who inaugurated, at the end of 2017, the Animalia series by Edizioni Nottetempo which, in the following years, was enriched with titles and protagonists. The collection currently includes seven informative monographs, enriched by a rich iconographic apparatus and dedicated to an audience of readers who are not necessarily specialist, willing to put aside for a moment the anthropocentric vision of the world to investigate the animal kingdom and the central place it covers. on the Planet.

Between natural and imaginary history

Each monograph of the Animalia series is dedicated to a single animal . The presentation key is original, as it envisages presenting each species not only from a naturalistic or ethological point of view, but also its relationship with man and the influence it has had on the literary, artistic, mythological and cultural world. . 

It is through the exploration of the human imagination, in fact, that the Nottetempo publishing house intends to complete the identikit of each animal , united with men in that complex and harmonious unicum that is nature. 

” The series was born from a deeper inspiration, common to all the production of the publishing house and to those who work in it “declared the publisher and editorial manager of the Andrea Gessner series. “ We believe that one of the fundamental points of contemporaneity is the necessary re-negotiation of the relationship between humans and other living beings, a path that we are exploring by opening ourselves to anthropology that investigates these issues […]. We want to investigate the world with “other” gazes: not necessarily new, but different from the anthropocentric paradigm dominant in the Western world . A paradigm that often leads us to assume destructive and self-destructive behaviors “.

Animalia, all titles

Each title of the Animalia series corresponds to an animal protagonist , presented in the round starting from the specific characteristics, up to understanding the impact it had on the human imagination. Here are the monographs currently published:

• The cat , Katharine M. Rogers: the book follows the traces of the special fascination that man undergoes towards this animal , analyzing its characteristics (sweetness, ferocity, affection, independence, domesticity, supernatural) and cultural meanings.
• The flamingo , Caitlin R. Kight: an animal that has known enormous success – as a fetish object – in the aesthetic imagination of recent years, has unique characteristics from a physical and behavioral point of view.
• The dolphin , Alan Rauch: with the dolphin , the series introduces a representative of the marine world. The sociable nature, the refined communication strategies that characterize it, have meant that this animal has always fascinated human beings, penetrating in a lasting way into their life and their imagination.
• The hawk, Helen Macdonald: the book is a full-fledged portrait, where the biological, natural and ethological characteristics of this skilled predator overlap the historical practices that cross his world with that of men.
• The Donkey , Jill Bough: Donkeys, historically known for doing the toughest activities, have long been vilified and labeled stupid and stubborn. The monograph reconstructs the natural history of the animal and that of its coexistence with men.
• The Wolf, Garry Marvin: The wolf is one of the most powerful and charismatic animal creatures in the human imagination. Icon of wild nature , his story is marked on the one hand by admiration, on the other by the violence that man has reserved for him. The book traces this ambivalent relationship, starting from the physical and behavioral characteristics of the animal.
• The dog , Susan McHugh: the author traces the history and curiosity of man’s best friend , passing from the debate on the descent from the wolf to that on the breeds, from the phenomenon of breeding to that of laboratory dogs, to the many famous dogs that have populated human history and culture.