The Mythological Zoo

The Mythological Zoo is a 1912 book of comic verse by Oliver Herford (1860-1935), the American humorist-illustrator, presenting the creatures of classical myth as exhibits in a nonsense menagerie. Herford gives the Medusa, the Siren, the Sphinx, the Chimera, the Unicorn, the Phoenix, and their fellows each a short comic poem and one of his elegant pen-and-ink drawings, deflating the monsters of antiquity with drawing-room wit. The format repeats the success of his earlier small gift books such as A Child’s Primer of Natural History, which had applied the same treatment to ordinary animals. Herford’s mythological jokes assume and reward a classical education, in the manner of Edwardian light verse. The book remains a favourite among collectors of American illustrated humour. Free PDF download available on BDeBooks.