Fictitious and Symbolic Creatures in Art

Fictitious and Symbolic Creatures in Art by John Vinycomb, was first published in 1906. The book is a review of the folk-lore of animals, mostly of a legendary or purely symbolic nature, particularly as appearing in English Heraldry. It's a gold-mine of lore about such fantastic beasts as the hydra, the basilisk, the phoenix, as well as angels, dragons, mermaids, sphynxes and so on. Vinycomb also covers heraldic versions of actual animals, such as the Tyger, and the Heraldic Pelican and Dolphin.