An Odd Bestiary. Text compiled and annotated by Laurie Block

[Easthampton, MA]: Cheloniidae Press, 1982. First Edition, one of 200 copies all on Rives lightweight paper, from a total issue of 300 copies, signed by the artist, Alan James Robinson, and hand-numbered by him on the colophon page. Page size: 13-1/2 inches x 9-3/4 inches; 158pp including 6pp. Introduction by Laurie Block and 13pp. bibliography by Ms. Block. Bound by Grey Parrot: red quarter leather and light tan cloth over boards, tan cloth over boards folder for extra suite of engravings, clamshell box of tan linen over boards with red morocco spine stamped in gold gilt with title, fine. Each letter of the alphabet is exemplified by an animal whose name represents that letter. Each letter has its own page with a small woodengraving of the animal above printed text describing the animal. This is followed by an original full-page woodengraving of the animal with a caption and source printed in red by a page of text. The first letter of each of the 26 text sections is in red, original calligraphy by Betse Curtis in the style of Old English Gothic letters. The colophon features a red alphabet in Old English Gothic letters surrounding the debossed turtle (cheloniidae) with the colophon text printed in Arrighi. The text of the book is in Centaur as well as Arrighi, set in monotype by Mackenzie-Harris, with some hand-setting by Arthur Larson.
The text, compiled by Laurie Block from five centuries of travelers' accounts, is "the story of how men came to view the animate world as a reality with its own unique history, integrity, and order." The earliest bestiaries - full of fantasy and little fact - from the medieval period seem elementary in comparison to those produced by the scholarship of the Renaissance. Humans had renewed their efforts to portray and accurately describe those other living creatures that share their planet. And, their ever-expanding audience was delighted. This desire to see and know the living world continues unabated. Here is a textual survey from publications as early as the 1577 THE HISTORY OF TRAVAILE IN THE WEST AND EAST INDIES... by Richard Eden (for the Elephant's entry) to the 1839 NARRATIVE OF THE SURVEYING VOYAGES OF HIS MAJESTY'S SHIPS ADVENTURE AND BEAGLE... by Charles Darwin (for the Tortoise's entry). There are 26 wood engravings by Alan James Robinson for each animal / letter of the alphabet. There are also 26 smaller linecuts which appear above the page of text with the first letter of the animal's name printed over / with the image. The woodengraving is a full-page image with a sentence, printed in red, below the engraving referring to the animal. This is an altogether welcome addition to the much sought after bestiary. Elegantly and beautifully executed, it is one of Mr. Robinson's most charming endeavors.