1300 Real and Fanciful Animals

A painter whose father was an engraver and publisher of the same name, Matth&#228;us Merian (1621&#8211;1687) published this remarkable group of unusual and highly imaginative animal illustrations. This copyright-free collection includes a large and fascinating selection of engravings that illustrate scientific specimens and legendary creatures &#8213; all meticulously reproduced from an extremely rare eighteenth-century edition.<BR>Carefully arranged into six major divisions (quadrupeds, snakes, mollusks and crustaceans, fish, birds, and insects), approximately 1,300 copyright-free images include realistic and fanciful portrayals of a varied array of real animals, in addition to such imaginary creatures as unicorns, dragons, basilisks, harpies, griffins, and other mythical beasts. Identifying captions in Latin accompany many of the illustrations. <BR>Commercial artists, illustrators, and craftspeople will find a host of uses for these lovingly detailed engravings: as book and magazine illustrations and as attention-getting graphics ideal for enhancing flyers, brochures, newsletters, and any number of other print projects. Art lovers and antiquarians &#8213; anyone with an interest in the art and ideas of an earlier era &#8213; will enjoy browsing through these wonderful antique images.