Questionable creatures : a bestiary

"Bestiaries" - small illustrated books on all the creatures thought to exist in the world - are perhaps the most entertaining literature to have come down to us from the Middle Ages.

They included detailed descriptions of the characteristics and habits of animals, fish, birds, insects and mythological creatures, many of the 'facts' unproven, inaccurate and bizarre.

Now the legendary illustrator, Pauline Baynes, has spun together a gloriously amusing text and delightful illustrations "with some liberty" from various bestiaries in England, adding a fascinating introduction to give the full, fabulous flavour of these mediaeval gems of misbelief.