MONSTER BRAINS

From The Folger Shakespeare Library

Printed by Miles Felsher, for Jacob Tonson - John Milton's "Paradise Lost" 1688.

Jacob Tonson - The Tempest, act 1, scene 1, (engraving) 1709.

Created by Francoys Fils Of France And brother Unicquue Of Roy, 1582. (This is based on a rough translation in French through Babelfish so could be wrong.)

J Smart - St George and Dragon? 1822

Pamela Coleman Smith - Caliban, 1900

Thomas, b. Trevilian - Commonplace Book, 1608

Thomas, b. Trevilian - Commonplace Book, 1608

Vincenzo Cartari - "Le imagini de i dei de gli antichi.." (Valgrisi's serpent device, 1571) The engravings are by Bolognino Zaltieri

Claude-Francois Menestrier - L'Art des emblemes... (page 264, detail of hydra) 1684.

Edward Topsell - The historie of serpents, or, The second booke of living creatures... (page 201, detail of hydra) 1608. "The historie of serpents. Or, The second booke of liuing creatures: wherein is contained their diuine, naturall, and morall descriptions, with their liuely figures, names, conditions, kindes and natures of all venemous beasts: with their seuerall poysons and antidotes; their deepe hatred to mankind, and the wonderfull worke of God in their creation, and destruction. Necessary and profitable to all sortes of men: collected out of diuine Scriptures, fathers, phylosophers, physitians, and poets: amplified with sundry accidentall histories, hierogliphicks, epigrams, emblems, and ænigmaticall obseruations. "


Edward May - illustration of "The Heart Worm"
"Most certaine and true relation of a strange monster or serpent found in the left ventricle of the heart of John Pennant, Gentleman, of the age of 21 years." Woodcut, printed by George Miller in 1639.

All artworks found in the Folger Shakespeare Library, as suggested to me by Peacay of BibliOdyssey. Thanks Paul!

It took me around 3 hours to hunt these images down as I browsed through 10,000 some images to find them. I'll likely be doing another post in the future when I get around to looking through the other 12,000 some images on the site.