Everything about Edward Topsell totally explained
Edward Topsell (c.
1572 –
1625) was an English cleric and author best remembered for his
bestiary.
Topsell attended
Christ's College, Cambridge, earned his B.A. and probably an M.A. as well, before beginning a career in the
Church of England. He served as the first
rector of
East Hoathly, and subsequently became the
perpetual curate of St. Botolph's in
Aldersgate (
1604). He was the author of books on religious and moral themes, including
The Reward of Religion (
1596) and
Time's Lamentation (
1599), among others.
Topsell's
The History of Four-footed Beasts (
1607) and
The History of Serpents (
1608), both published by
William Jaggard, were reprinted together as
The History of Four-Footed Beasts and Serpents in
1658. An eleven-hundred-page treatise on
zoology, Topsell's work repeats ancient and fantastic legends about actual animals as well as reports of mythical animals. Topsell, not a naturalist himself, relied on earlier authorities, most notably the
Historia Animalium of the Swiss scholar
Conrad Gessner. "I wouldn't have the Reader," Topsell writes, "... imagine I've ... related all that's ever said of these Beasts, but only [what] is said by many."
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Topsell's work is remembered chiefly for its detailed and vigorous illustrations, including the famous image known as
Dürer's Rhinoceros. The illustrations have been widely reproduced in many contexts, and Topsell's bestiary has been reprinted in various modern editions, usually in greatly reduced form.
Superstitions about actual animals
Topsell, repeating ancient legends, assigns exotic attributes to actual animals. He writes, for example, that:
Of the
procreation of mice, Topsell writes that it "is not only by copulation, but also nature worketh wonderfully in ingenduring them by earth."
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Fantastic animals
Relying on the authority of "sundry learned men," Topsell includes the
Gorgon, the
Sphinx, the
Manticore, the
Lamia, the Winged
Dragon and the
Unicorn.
Further Information
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