Before Disenchantment: Images of Exotic Animals and Plants in the Early Modern World

by Peter Mason

Imagine barnacle geese--creatures that begin life as leaves on a tree growing above water, but turn into small birds as soon as they fall in. Or the Lamb of Tartary that gestates inside a large gourd-like fruit. These are just some of the animal and plant hybrids imagined by early modern explorers and artists to describe unfamiliar flora and fauna.

In Before Disenchantment, Peter Mason explores how naturalists grappled with the problem...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1861894376
• ISBN13: 9781861894373
• Release Date: September 2009
• Publisher: Reaktion Books
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.4" x 8.3"