Sometimes a friendly fireside companion, more often elusive and independent, the cat possesses an enigmatic appeal and unfathomable mystery, which have inspired writers poets, artists and craftsmen alike from the illuminations of the Lindisfarne Gospels to Rudyard Kipling.

Quench your kitty curiosity and discover the answers to all these vital questions and more in this must-have for any cat owner! Who composed the Cat’s Fugue inspired by the sound of his cat walking across the keys of the piano? What is ailurophilia? In which country do people believe that the souls of the departed live in the bodies of cats before moving on to the next life? When were cats worshipped as gods? Why did Edward Lear, composer of the Owl and the Pussycat, have two houses, one in Italy and the other in England, that were exactly the same? How did a cat single-handedly wipe out an entire animal species?

These small, beautifully illustrated books with quotations drawn from a wide variety of sources: poetry, plays, letters, diaries as well as ancient bestiaries, give an insight into the nature of the creatures which have beguiled our affections since the earliest times. Fables and superstitions surround animals as an index of the creativity of God. Later writers have come to see animals as individuals, as well as being useful as metaphorical source material for comments on human nature. The lion was used in renaissance art to depict majesty and courage and was associated with the resurrection of Christ. The cat, in contrast, was traditionally associated with laziness and lust, as well as witches and devils. Today we add domesticity, motherly skills and cunning to our preconceptions about the cat's nature. The cat has become our most popular domestic pet. As friend and muse, the cat has captured our imagination so that in the last two centuries there is no animal which has inspired more prose and poetry.

In this cookbook, over 100 recipes are recreated from past cultures. Recipes include a full-scale Roman banquet and the exotic Kukuye Sabsi from Ancient Persia. From classical Greece come honey cheesecake and from Georgian England, Mrs Raffald's grapes preserved in brandy.

Originally published: London: The British Museum Press, 2013.