Paperback. Navy cover with a manuscript and tan title.

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Bestiaries are particularly characteristic of medieval England, and give a unique insight into the medieval mind. Richly illuminated and lavishly produced, they were luxury objects for noble families. Their three-fold purpose was to provide a natural history of birds, beasts and fishes, to draw moral examples from animal behaviour (the industrious bee, the stubborn ass), and to reveal a mystical meaning -the phoenix, for instance, as a symbol of Christ’s resurrection. This Bestiary, MS. Bodley 764, was produced around the middle of the thirteenth century and is of singular beauty and interest. The 136 illuminations are reproduced in full colour to the same size and in the same place as the original manuscript, and the text, translated with wit and style from the original Latin, is fitted around them. RICHARD BARBER’s other books include Myths and Legends of the British Isles, Dictionary of Fabulous Beasts, Arthurian Legends: An Anthology and King Arthur: Hero and Legend.

Reviews: 

• A beautiful facsimile of an original which is now in the Bodleian Library and referred to simply as MS Bodley 764. It was produced during the first half of the 13th century; both artist and patron are unknown, but Barber’s excellent translation from the Latin original makes for fascinating reading about beasts, real and imaginary, of the medieval world. 
• EVENING STANDARD Beautifully reproduced, the illustrations are given their exact positions in the original Bodleian manuscript; the elegantly translated text is a mixture of medieval reality, Christian symbolic explanation and the literally fabulous. ― COUNTRY LIFE

RICHARD BARBER has had a huge influence on the study of medieval history and literature, as both a writer and a publisher. His first book on the Arthurian legend appeared in 1961, and his major works include The Knight and Chivalry (winner of the Somerset Maugham Award in 1971), Edward Prince of Wales and Aquitaine, The Penguin Guide to Medieval Europe and The Holy Grail: the History of a Legend which was widely praised and was translated into six languages.