Description: Comprising hundreds of well-known and obscure primary sources arranged chronologically by writer, The Book of Fabulous Beasts traces the development of imaginary animals as they appear and reappear in literary accounts from the Babylonian epic of creation to modern fantasy. From Herodotus to medieval bestiaries and travelers's tales, and from Renaissance heraldry, alchemy, and natural histories to the fantasy fiction of Tolkien, the author shows how these resilient beasts -- once believed to be real -- have transformed and regenerated through time, surviving even the Age of Reason that banished them to the rearm of the "fabulous". With an extensive general introduction, glossary of animals, bibliography, index, and more than a hundred illustrations from a Babylonian cylinder seal of a god battling a dragon to James Thurber's drawing of a unicorn in a modern garden, this volume will be the standard reference for years to come.

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