Customer Reviews

Treasury of Fantastic and Mythological Creatures: 1,087 Renderings from Historic Sources (Dover Pictorial Archive)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

On the one hand, the book does offer wide-ranging coverage. There isn't a region of the world that isn't covered to some extent.

On the other hand, the textual information provided is sparse and occasionally *wrong*, and some of the inclusions are questionable.

Each illustration has a one-sentence caption, varying considerably in detail provided. Some give you all the information you would need to find the source of the original illustration, some are a single word identifying the type of creature, others are somewhere in-between. It's unclear how much of this dearth of information is because of the reliance on secondary rather than original sources, and how much of it is because the author and/or his editor over-did the cutting.

Also, some of the captions are mis-assigned. Going through the book, I easily spotted several occasions where two of the illustrations on the same page were clearly given each other's captions. I only spotted this a few times but it begs the question, how many other such errors are there in the book that I didn't spot?

Finally, some of the illustrations included really don't belong. Details from Bosch paintings make sense, they're demons ("fantastical and mythological creatures") from hundreds of years ago ("from historic sources"). But there are some figures from modern art included that don't seem to belong, particularly a Picasso that's just an abstract rendering of a normal human.

It may well be more useful for its bibliography than for its content.

Satisfaction with this purchase will very much depend on your purpose. It certainly does not have much text in the book to accompany the illustrations. Personally, I wasn't expecting any having purchased other Dover publications for artists and craftspeople. Which then left the illustrations. There is a diverse range here across different parts of the world. I was expecting different 'ages' rather than different 'locations'; only because some pictorial archives (especially costume ones) start with the oldest period and work forwards.

As someone looking for different animals and creatures for use in collage art, altered books and card making, this is a good book to add to my collection. There are certainly all manner of creatures contained within.

If you are looking for an informative archive through text, then this is certainly not the book for you. If like me, you are looking for a range of creatures; then this book has something to offer.

There are some nice renderings of 3-D objects (sculptures and masks), but why would the author choose to re-draw a 16th century engraving when the original is so wonderfully done?? All the images in this book are drawings by the author. I'm not too fond of the drawing style, and the captions aren't very useful.

This book is great! Amazing creatures of all kinds from all over the globe and throughout history. I love to draw in ink and this book is a great reference tool. And thanks for the speedy delivery!

The selection of creatures are from all sorts of sources (paintings, pottery, walls, pistol handles, frieze, tapestries, etc.) from all around the world. But almost none of the images are portrayed from their original source (i.e. the tapestry) but rather drawn in ink. The drawing styles vary greatly from simple outline, to cross-hatched shading, to silhouette, to stipling. A few images are rather poorly drawn. If you are an artist or writer looking for imaginative creations, this book will greatly help. If you are considering using many images for reproduction, you may be disappointed.

Fantastic book. Highly recommended. Bought for inspiration and collection, def worth a look! If youre looking for tattoo ideas, this is perfect.

at first, i was terribly dissapointed at the simple black and white renderings and 1 sentance descriptions. however, i learned to appreciate it as a one of a kind book. it is not very insightful, special, creative, or informative, and i want to let let it be known that this book is not going to be good for a little kid who just likes little baby fairy tales or other things like that. this is especially for the advanced fan of mythological and fantastic creatures. i know that i tresure my copy though! love ya'!

These illustration are mediocre at best and I wish I had realized that they were an artists interpretation of monsters from historical sources, not direct images. Darn.