"The object of the following compilation is to bring together in accessible form waifs and strays of information, collected from various sources, relating to medieval natural history, so far as animal life is concerned. Descriptions, more or less accurate, of the birds and quadrupeds known in the Middle Ages are to be found in the writings of Gesner, Belon, Aldrovandus, and other naturalists. A knowledge of the state of natural science during the period in which our great dramatist lived may be gained, not only from the writings of naturalists and antiquaries, but from the similes, allusions and anecdotes introduced into the plays, poems, and general literature of England during the latter half of the sixteenth and the beginning of the seventeenth centuries." - Phipson

Includes many reference to Physiologus and bestiary material.

476 p., 1 illustration, index.

Language: English

LC: PR3044.P5