Marvels of the World

"A collection of texts for a broad audience of readers interested in learning more about the premodern natural world. This anthology aims to broaden and complicate the story of premodern nature writing in the West, whether for a student of early literature and culture or for any reader who wants to go beyond the commonplaces that have dominated so much thinking about the past. This anthology widens the scope to medieval literature and culture as well as to classical texts, so that readers can follow the evolution of conflicting concepts over the sweep of two millennia"--