Description
Book SynopsisIn his new collection of essays, Jan Bondeson tells ten fascinating stories of myths and hoaxes, beliefs and Ripley-like facts, concerning the animal kingdom. Throughout he recountsand in some instances solvesmysteries of the natural world which have puzzled scientists for centuries.
Heavily illustrated with photographs and drawings, the book presents astounding tales from across the rich folklore of animals: a learned pig more admired than Sir Isaac Newton by the English public, an elephant that Lord Byron wanted to employ as his butler, a dancing horse whose skills in mathematics were praised by William Shakespeare, and, of course, the extraordinary creature known as the Feejee Mermaid. This object became the foremost curiosity of London in the 1820s and later in the century toured the United States under the management of P. T. Barnum. Bearing a striking resemblance to a wizened and misshapen monkey with a fishtail, the mermaid was nonetheless proclaimed a genuine specimen
Trade Review
Bondeson has a keen eye for the recreational value of much of the material he discusses. The reader will find Bondeson's wit and style almost as engaging as British and American Victorians must have found a good gawk at Jumbo the elephant.
* Isis *
Bondeson has written ten fascinating histories of various exceptional creatures, some real (a dancing horse and a learned pig), some hoaxes (like the mermaid of the title), some mythical ('vegetable' sheep that grow on a stalk and showers of worms and frogs).
* Ottawa Citizen *
Jan Bondeson shares the impresario's glee in whipping off the handkerchief or whipcracking up another curtain on another monster, relishing the absurdity and the fun of it all.
-- Marina Warner * Times Literary Supplement *
This is a wonderful book about a wonderful subject—that is, the marvels of nature, or rather, the marvels of the imagination as it explores the world of nature.
* Virginia Quarterly Review *
With his historian's nose for authenticity and fascination with the bizarre, Bondeson has produced a book that manages to entertain, inform and occasionally repel. It is an intriguing study not only of animals but also of human curiosity, credulity, ambition, and greed.
* Times Higher Education Supplement *
Table of ContentsA Prelude
1. The Dancing Horse
2. Lament of the Learned Pig
3. The Feejee Mermaid
4. Obituary of an Elephant
5. Jumbo, King of Elephants
6. Animals on Trial
7. The Riddle of the Basilisk
8. Spontaneous Generation
9. Odd Showers
10. Toad in the Hole
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