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The Book of Beasts: Being a Translation from a Latin Bestiary of the Twelfth Century

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The Book of Beasts: Being a Translation from a Latin Bestiary of the Twelfth CenturyIf a serpent swallows the spittle of a fasting man, it dies. Trees felled in the wrong season breed termites. If eels are drowned in wine, those who drink it get a loathing for liquor. These and similar flights of fancy were articles of faith in the twelfth century the era of the fascinating Latin prose bestiary translated in this volume. The translator is T. H. White, author of The Once and Future King and outstanding medievalist. Of The Book of

If a serpent swallows the spittle of a fasting man, it dies. Trees felled in the wrong season breed termites. If eels are drowned in wine, those who drink it get a loathing for liquor.
These and similar flights of fancy were articles of faith in the twelfth century -- the era of the fascinating Latin prose bestiary translated in this volume. The translator is T. H. White, author of The Once and Future King and outstanding medievalist. Of The Book of Beasts, White writes: No Latin prose bestiary has ever before been printed, even in Latin. This is the first and only English translation in print.
The bestiary was a bestseller in the Middle Ages, a kind of natural history cum-zoological survey that presumed to describe the animals of the world and to point out the human traits they exemplified. Combining the surprisingly accurate with the endearingly phantasmagorical, the bestiarists came up with a bewildering array of real and exotic creatures. The behavior or attributes of the animals often functioned as a metaphor for teaching religious, moral, and political precepts.
In addition to a multitude of real mammals, birds, reptiles, and fish, described here with varying degrees of zoological accuracy, the bestiarist introduces a swarm of fanciful denizens thought to haunt the Dark Ages: manticore, a creature with a man's face, a lion's body, and a ravenous appetite for human flesh; dragon or draco, the biggest serpent and the embodiment of the Devil; amphivia, a fish that could walk on land and swim in the sea; jaculus, a flying serpent; the familiar phoenix; the griffin; and other exotic fauna. Much of the charm of this edition lies in the copious footnotes compiled by T. H. White. With immense erudition, wit, grace, and a singular lack of condescension, the author illuminates literary, scientific, historical, linguistic, and other aspects of the bestiarist's catalog. He further enhances the volume with informative discussions of the history of the bestiary from its origins in remote oral traditions; through Herodotus, Pliny and Aristotle; during the medieval period and the Renaissance; and up to Sir Thomas Browne's Vulgar Errors (1646). Both amusing and amazing, The Book of Beasts is not only a rich survey of the proto-zoology on which much of our later science is based, but also a revealing, illustrated examination of how pre-scientific man perceived the earth's creatures.

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Dover Publications
Published: 12/22/2010
ISBN: 9780486246093
Pages: 320
Weight: 0.81lbs
Size: 8.24h x 5.66w x 0.69d
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SKU: 62677757601

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Los Angeles, US
★★★★★ 4
Surface Fabric is very durable
Size: Small, Color: Hot Pink
Surface Fabric is very durable, but the squeaker didn't last two months. I have urged the manufacturer to find a strong more durable squeaker for their product. My dogs really enoys it when the speaker works. One of his 3 work. I have just bought two more he likes them so much. He takes it to bed every night to catch it once or twice before sleeping. Also loves to catch it a few times during the day.
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Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2026
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Taraknits
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Best. Toy. Ever. For My Superchewer!
Size: Large, Color: Skinny Green, Size: Large, Color: Skinny Green
Best toy ever! My dog destroys toys. Usually within about 15 minutes, she has de-squeakered and defluffed them. By the second day, she has tug-of-war-ed them to shreds. From the time we got this adorable dragon out of the package, she LOVED it. She set to work. It’s been a week, and while she has dewinged him, he lost his squeaker after a few days, and he looks a bit rough, he’s still in one piece! And, we’ve had HOURS of tug-of-war with minimal rips! She’s obsessed 😍 I ordered two more today. We’ve finally found the perfect toy for my baby!
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Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2026
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SnowshoePete
Pawtucket, US
★★★★★ 5
My 90 lb. Pitbull's All-Time Fave Toy
Size: Large, Color: Coral, Size: Large, Color: Coral
I ordered a plethora of new toys for Bruce to keep him occupied while I am working remotely from home. Poor guy gets so bored while I'm stuck in front of my computer 8+ hours a day. All the other toys are animated, but this one is just a big floppy chewy squeaky toy. Bruce quickly lost interest in all the other chirping, hopping, and twirling toys and fell in love with "Diny". When I opened Diny and gave it to Bruce, he had the elated and surprised look of a 3 yr old at Christmas. And he stayed that happy for hours, and then each time he picked up Diny to play. Diny became his go-to toy over all others (and there are many!). It is well made out of durable fabric, and they did not stuff it full of kapoc (I hate kapoc in dogs toys!). And it is delightfully low-tech. Normally he tears a squeaky toy apart as soon as he can isolate the squeaky mechanism. But cleverly, the squeaky box is loose in the long belly so it moves from one end to the other as the toy is handled. That made it difficult for Bruce to locate it. The toy remained in good condition for 2 weeks of near constant attention by Bruce. But yesterday he zeroed in on the squeaky box and ripped Diny to shreds. I was sad to see Diny go so soon. But boy-howdy was Bruce happy with it. I'm gonna buy another because we liked it so much. And so did I : )
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Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 2024
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Jason W
Dallas, US
★★★★★ 5
This is one “under the radar” gem!!
Size: Large, Color: Coral
This is one “under the radar” gem!! Very strong internal squeaker and way tougher than it looks. My big 125lb Shepard-Husky mix gave it heck, then made it his new buddy. He’ll occasionally give it the business but on the whole, it’s surprisingly tough and my big boy loves it. Nice price!!
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Birmingham, US
★★★★★ 4
Cute but small
Size: Large, Color: Skinny Green
Cute stuffy and has not yet ripped. While my dogs plays with it, the toy is a bit small for him. For reference he is 120lbs.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 27, 2026

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