The Unicorn Found

In this bestiary, Edward Topsell, an English cleric and writer, appropriates, in translation, the content and postulations of Swiss naturalist Conrad Gessner’s Historiae Animalium, compiled more than 50 years prior to Topsell’s work. This illustration, from the introductory page to Topsell’s unicorn section, is taken from Gessner’s volume. Both works focus on the quadruped, include detailed descriptions based on first-hand accounts from travelers, and discuss the religious or spiritual associations with the animal.