Format:
Book
Title:
The book of fabulous beasts : a treasury of writings from ancient times to the present / edited by Joseph Nigg.
Call Number:
808.80374 B644
Publisher, Date:
New York : Oxford University Press, 1999.
Description:
xx, 408 p. : ill. ; 26 cm.
Summary:
"The dragon, phoenix, griffin, unicorn, and a host of other strange and magical animals of the imagination appear in widely diverse writings scattered throughout literature across millennia. The Book of Fabulous Beasts is the first comprehensive collection of such Western writings, from ancient epics of creation to modern fantasy. Comprising hundreds of entries arranged chronologically by author, this unique anthology is both a source book on fantastic beasts and a composite history of these enduring creatures."--BOOK JACKET. "In works from Herodotus and Pliny the Elder to medieval bestiaries and travelers' tales, and from Renaissance heraldry, literature, and natural histories to the fantasy fiction of Tolkien, resilient imaginary beings long believed to be real have evolved through time, surviving even the Age of Reason that deemed them "fabulous." Excerpts from these and other primary sources, including the Bible, Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, Milton, and Goethe, reflect the development not only of unnatural animals but of the Western imagination itself."--BOOK JACKET.
Subjects:
Animals, Mythical.
Other Author:
Nigg, Joe.
Contents:
Introduction: A History of Fabulous Beasts -- I. Ancient Animals. 1. Mythic Beginnings. 2. Exotic Creatures -- II. Beasts of God. 3. Scripture and Apocrypha. 4. Allegories of the Fathers. 5. A Fabulous Bestiary. 6. Storied Menagerie. 7. Travelers' Tales -- III. Strange and Dubious Creatures. 8. Heraldic Monsters. 9. A Renaissance Miscellany. 10. Unnatural History -- IV. Recurring Images. 11. Myths and Fallacies. 12. Continuing Transformations. A Glossary of Fabulous Beasts.
ISBN:
0195095618 (alk. paper)