Exotic Animals Centuries Ago, Based on Hearsay
The further you go back in that history, the more likely those stories of exotic animals were less accurate.
Here is a gorgeous collection of illustrations showing how people imagined real animals they had only heard about. Crocodiles from Liber Floridus (Book of Flowers), an encyclopedia by Lambert, Canon of Saint-Omer between the years 1090 and 1120.
Animals from the Rochester Bestiary, c. 1225-1250
A crocodile: Lions and other animals: A lion: A colorful panther: A crocodile from the Northumberland Bestiary, fol. 49v, mid-1250s
An elephant from the 13th century, by Guillaume le Clerc
An elephant from Italy, c. 1440
Lions from the Ashmole Bestiary (f.10v), 1511
A whale from Adriaen Coenen’s Visboek (Fish Book), 1560s
An elephant and a giraffe by Noè Bianco, 1568The History of Four-Booted Beasts and Serpents, by Edward Topsell, 1658 A beaver: A dromedary: A history of the Earth and animated nature, by Oliver Goldsmith, 1825 A hippo: Seals: Lions: A striped hyena, by Aloys Zötl, 1831Gibbons, by Aloys Zötl, 1833The Hoolock Gibbons, by Aloys Zötl, 1835 The Cheetah, by Aloys Zötl, 1837A rhinoceros, by Aloys Zötl, 1861A sea turtle, by Aloys Zötl, 1867A walrus, by Aloys Zötl, 1879________
Exploring the known and the unknown with a beat writer’s eye for truth. –Chip Von Gunten
A quick overview of the topics covered in this article.
Latest articles
Earthquake Detector Invented 10,000 Years Ago
The Earth has been speaking forever; we just finally learned how to listen. Before satellites, sensors, and seismographs, humans already knew something was rumbling [read more...]
Tesla’s proposed invention to blow up hostile warships by electric waves
When Nikola Tesla raised the looming lattice of Wardenclyffe Tower on Long Island in the early 1900s, he was chasing more than just patents. [read more...]
The Origin of “E Pluribus Unum”
E pluribus unum is the motto suggested by the committee Congress appointed on July 4, 1776 to design "a seal for the United States of [read more...]
