Natural History Lore and Legend: Being Some Few Examples of Quaint and By-Gone Beliefs Gathered in from Divers Authorities, Ancient and Mediaeval, of Varying Degrees of Reliability
London: Bernard Quaritch, 1895.
First Edition. Hardcover. As sure as the foaming sea monster adorning its deep green cover, this 1895 menagerie gathers strange and exotic beasts, deities of myth and folklore, and tales of animals with mystical powers, all from the works of Medieval naturalists. Here you will tread the trails of unicorns and phoenixes, mermaids, harpies, and creatures shrouded in great mystery, and hear tales of the terror of lycanthropy and witchcraft. Natural History Lore and Legend is the work of Frederick Edward Hulme (1841–1909), the artist, antiquarian, natural historian, and amateur botanist best known for his nine-volume work Familiar Wild Flowers. Subjects of interest include: "the centaur in medieval guise," "mermaids and matrimony," "vulpine eccentricities," "the medical virtues of the hedgehog," "instances of sagacity in birds," "cats as storm-raisers," "wondrous stones of mystic virtue," "the deadly basilisk," "the dragon as a play-mate," "serpentine monstrosities," and, though it need barely be mentioned at this point, "spiders as charms," illustrated in 29 inventive and curious line drawings, by the author, of creatures magical, medieval, and strange.
7 3/4" X 5 1/2". viii, 350pp, plus one leaf of ads. Presents nicely in protective archival jacket. Deep green cloth over boards with sea monster spouting a spray of water stamped in bright gilt to upper board and Rod of Asclepius with laurel leaves stamped in gilt to spine, both lettered in kind. Top edge gilt, fore-edge untrimmed. Moderate edgewear to binding, with hard bumping to top corners and light scattered rubbing and soiling to cloth. Binding is firm and sound. Toning to endpapers; pages are clean and unmarked. Illustrated in 29 figures throughout. Uncommonly well-preserved. Very good +. Item #17129
Price: $595.00