Why read The Lore of the Unicorn?

Book cover of The Lore of the Unicorn

Book description

This work, created in the early 20th century by Odell Shepard, is one of the better works made through time to craft mythology (and cryptozoology of a fashion) together with more modern historical treatments of its subject matter. It is the unicorn (or alicorn) here which concerns the text- and…

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Literary fiction

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Why read it?

2 authors picked The Lore of the Unicorn as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

W.B.J. Williams

Author

This book provides the most thorough review of the literature on unicorns, critically examining primary sources not available to most readers. Highly readable with a wry sense of humor, and presents his scholarly findings in a most legible way.

From W.B.J.'s list on .

Joseph Nigg

Author

The unicorn and the dragon are still the two most ubiquitous animals to emerge from the host of fantastic creatures that began spreading through popular books, art, and film in the late 1970s. Years before the unicorn’s commercial popularity, Odell Shepard’s classic book, The Lore of the Unicorn, traced the millennia-long cultural transformations of the mysterious animal, beginning with an early traveler’s tale of the wild asses of India.

I admire Shepard’s blending of personal voice with wide-ranging research and commentary. He opens his introduction with, “On the table before me, there lies a long straight wand of ivory,”…

From Joseph's list on following mythical beasts through time.