One of the most popular and widely read books of the Middle Ages, Physiologus contains allegories of beasts, stones, and trees both real and imaginary, infused by their anonymous author with the spirit of Christian moral and mystical teaching. Accompanied by an introduction that explains the origins, history, and literary value of this curious text, this volume also reproduces twenty woodcuts from the 1587 version. Originally composed in the fourth century in Greek, and translated into dozens of versions through the centuries, Physiologus will delight readers with its ancient tales of ant-lions, centaurs, and hedgehogs—and their allegorical significance. “An elegant little book . . . still diverting to look at today. . . . The woodcuts reproduced from the 1587 Rome edition are alone worth the price of the book.”—Raymond A. Sokolov, New York Times Book Review

The only known text witness of the Novus Phisiologus which was written between 1294 and 1298, in all probability in Germany, is the MS 2780 of the Darmstadt Library. The work cannot, despite its title, be included among the known Latin versions of the Physiologus. In contrast to the old Latin Physiologus this Novus Phisiologus leaves out the trees and stones, but on the other hand treats the animals which it and the Latin Physiologus take on board in the descriptive part but also in the allegorically interpretative part in far more depth and detail than is the case in the Latin Physiologus. The Novus Phisiologus provides a mass of detail, of which the Latin versions of the Physiologus do not even seem to be aware. The Novus Phisiologus is a poem of 1400 lines composed partly of hexameters and partly of couplets, and contains the following parts: Prologus, De homine, De quadrupedibus, De avibus, De reptilibus, De minutis animalibus and De anima.

Sarah Kay s interests in this book are, first, to examine how medieval bestiaries depict and challenge the boundary between humans and other animals; and second, to register the effects on readers of bestiaries by the simple fact that parchment, the writing support of virtually all medieval texts, is a refined form of animal skin. Surveying the most important works created from the ninth through the thirteenth centuries, Kay connects nature to behavior to Christian doctrine or moral teaching across a range of texts. As Kay shows, medieval thought (like today) was fraught with competing theories about human exceptionalism within creation. Given that medieval bestiaries involve the inscription of texts about and images of animals onto animal hides, these texts, she argues, invite readers to reflect on the inherent fragility of bodies, both human and animal, and the difficulty of distinguishing between skin as a site of mere inscription and skin as a containing envelope for sentient life. It has been more than fifty years since the last major consideration of medieval Latin and French bestiaries was published. Kay brings us up to date in the archive, and contributes to current discussions among animal studies theorists, manuscript studies scholars, historians of the book, and medievalists of many stripes."

This collection of specially commissioned articles aims to shed light on the Early Modern printer's mark, a very productive Early Modern word-image so far only occasionally noted outside the domain of book history. This collection of 17 specially commissioned articles aims to shed light on the European printer’s mark, a very productive Early Modern word-image genre so far only occasionally noted outside the domain of book history. It does so from the perspectives of book history, literary history, especially emblem scholarship, and art history. The various contributions to the volume address issues such as those of the adoption of printer's devices in the place of the older heraldic printer's marks as a symptom of the changing self-image of the representatives of the Early Modern printing profession, of the mutual influence of emblems and printer's marks, of the place of Classical learning in the design of Humanist printer's marks, of the economic factors involved in the evolution of Early Modern printer's marks, the pictorial topics of the Early Modern printer's mark, and the printer's mark as a result of the 'Verbürgerlichung' of the device of Early Modern nobility. Special care was taken to account for the similarities and differences of the printer's marks produced and used in different regional and cultural contexts. The printer’s mark thus becomes visible as a European phenomenon that invites studying some of the most significant shared aspects of Early Modern culture. Preface/ Beginnings and Provenances: A. Wolkenhauer: Sisters, or Mother and Daughter? The Relationship between Printer’s Marks and Emblems during the First Hundred Years/ A. Bässler: Ekphrasis and Printer’s Signets/ L. Houwen: Beastly Devices: Early Printers’ Marks and Their Medieval Origins/ H. Meeus: From Nameplate to Emblem. The Evolution of the Printer’s Device in the Southern Low Countries up to 1600/ Regions and Places: K. Sp. Staikos: Heraldic and Symbolic Printer’s Devices of Greek Printers in Italy (15th-16th century)/ A. Jakimyszyn-Gadocha: Jewish Printers’ Marks from Poland (16th-17th centuries)/ J. A. Tomicka: Fama typographica. In Search of the Emblem Form of Printer’s Devices. The Iconography and Emblem Form of Printer’s Devices in 16th- and 17th-Century Poland/ P. Hoftijzer: Pallas Nostra Salus. Early-Modern Printer’s Marks in Leiden as Expressions of Professional and Personal Identity/ D. Peil: Early Modern Munich Printer’s Marks (and Related Issues)/ K. Lundblad: The Printer’s Mark in Early Modern Sweden/ S. Hufnagel: Iceland’s Lack of Printer’s Devices: Filling a Functional and Spatial Void in Printed Books during the Sixteenth Century/ Concepts, Historical and Systematic: B.F. Scholz: The Truth of Printer’s Marks: Andrea Alciato On ‘Aldo’s Anchor’, ‘Froben’s Dove’ and ‘Calvo’s Elephant’. A Closer Look at Alciato’s Concept of the Printer’s Mark./ V. Hayaert: The Legal Significance and Humanist Ethos of Printers’ Insignia/ J. Kiliańczyk-Zięba: The Transition of the Printer’s Device from a Sign of Identification to a Symbol of Aspirations and Beliefs/ Judit Vizkelety-Ecsedy: Mottos in Printers’ Devices – Thoughts about the Hungarian Usage/ M. Simon: European Printers’ and Publishers’ Marks in the 18th Century. The Three C’s: Conformity, Continuity and Change/ B.F. Scholz: In Place of an Afterword: Notes on Ordering the Corpus of the Early Modern Printer’s Mark/ Research Bibliography: The Early Modern Printer’s Mark in its Cultural Contexts/ Index (Names, Places, Motti).