Book of Beasts and Its Descendants

200 Level - The medieval book of beasts (bestiary) has always been a wild, motley, and beautiful invention. Copied out and illuminated by hand, emerging the same century as the first encyclopedias, and collaged from myriad sources, these text-and-image works mingle moral philosophy, natural history, etymology, and travel writing--and they have impacted centuries of thought and book making. Through reading and writing assignments, in this course we will ground in the history and practice of bestiaries older than the printing press in order to better connect with current writing about animals and the natural world. We will research fact and myth alike as we work collectively and in collaboration to culminate our practice with the production of a one-of-a-kind artist book of a modern bestiary.