Edward Topsell
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Edward Topsell (c. 1572-1625) was an English cleric and naturalist best remembered for his bestiary The History of Four-footed Beasts and Serpents, first published in 1607 and reprinted in 1658. He attended Christ's College, Cambridge and served as the first rector of East Hoathly. Subsequently, he became the perpetual curate of St Botolph's in Aldersgate. He was also the author of a book called the Reward of Religion.
An 1100-page treatise on zoology, Topsell's work repeats ancient and fantastic legends about actual animals as well as reports of mythical animals. Topsell, though almost entirely reliant on classical scientists, would include rudimentary rules that would serve as a precursor for the scientific method. "I would not have the Reader," Topsell writes, "... imagine I have ... related all that is ever said of these Beasts, but only [what] is said by many."[1]
Topsell's work featured illustrations, including the well-known image known as Dürer's Rhinoceros.
[edit] Superstitions about actual animals
Topsell, repeating ancient legends, assigns exotic attributes to actual animals. He writes, for example, that:
- Weasels give birth through their ears.
- Lemmings graze in the clouds.
- Elephants worship the sun and the moon and become pregnant by chewing on mandrake.
- Apes are terrified of snails.
Of the procreation of mice, Topsell writes that it "is not only by copulation, but also nature worketh wonderfully in ingenduring them by earth."[2]
[edit] Fantastic animals
Topsell's catalogue of legendary animals, in which he cites the authority of "sundry learned men," includes the Gorgon, the Sphinx, the Lamia, the Winged Dragon and the Unicorn.
