Lore of the Unicorn

Think the title of my review sounds a bit lofty? Wait till you read this book. It is absolutely amazing, the degree to which Sheperd's reading has gone-- an inexhaustible source list in at least ten different languages spanning centuries, all in an attempt to document the myth of the unicorn. Fuzzy fantasy novel fans beware, this is not a book up your alley! And if you aren't really interested in medieval thought and language, it's not up your alley either. However, if cultural studies, intellectual history and comparative mythology strike your fancy, read on.I give this book my heartiest recommendation. It is 73 years old and represents a very well-read man's excursion into whimsy-- dabbling in an interest, a break from the scholarly routine, ascribe whatever motive you want-- but I promise that it is deeply absorbing, enlightening and marvelously arcane.

I recieved my first copy when it first came out! It was one of my first unicorn books, and i was just a kid. I loved it, it got me into history, mythology and helped me understand a lot about the unicorn in general. this book is a great reference for unicorn mythology, lore, pictoral reference and anything else you can use it for. I have actually used it in my own artwork , i have done illustrations of all the unicorns in the book, as a kid i had made it a goal, the unicorn, monoceras, kirrin, abath, re'em and everything in between. it was actually a book that got me to get up and do something. it got me to study that mythical beast that is always in my dreams and near me in some way...from the mythology of the unicorn's creation, to Jesus, to Satan to whatever else this creature has pranced thoughYou can tell so much how dedicated this author was, i have even found references in fiction and fantasy books about this author and his wonderful book (Unicorn Mountain). this book is a must-have, must-read book for anyone who likes unicorns. It is always in the bibliography section of unicorn books, and it itself has a great bibliography, which i love so that i can get those books!!i recommend this book above all others if you like the rich history of the elusive and magnificent Unicorn!

If you have any experience with Dover publications, you'll know to expect something terrific. You won't be mistaken. Odell Shepard presents a work of such thorough, painstaking scholarship, it should be held up as a model for what scholarship ought to be. In fact, you get a pretty good sense of the history of scholarliness itself, reading this. If you find yourself sort of hypnotized by the excitement of looking over the shoulders of centuries worth of savants, I recommend you also read anything by Anthony Grafton, who writes about issues in the history of Renaissance scholarship. Another thing -- what a beautiful writing style this Odell Shepard possesses. His prose is characterized by an exacting usage of language (languages, I should say, because he apparently has a fluency with Latin, Greek, French, Italian, and probably other languages as well), and also by a taste for baroque, nineteenth century sentence structure. Really beautiful stuff. He loves his subject, and he loves the way it has been handed down through the ages. Two thumbs up.

I've been looking for a while for an all-encompassing, in-depth text on the historical significance and study of the unicorn. This book is it. It is filled to the brim with hundreds and hundreds of facts, accounts, testimonials, examinations and analyses of the unicorn throughout history. I was deeply disappointed in reading Roy Wilkinson's sappy "Are You A Unicorn?" This book compensates extensively where other books about the unicorn have failed. Especially interesting are juxtaposed conjectures and certainties of the unicorn. Wonderfully written and thoroughly researched, this is the truest guide to the Unicorn if ever there was one.

I used this book for a presentation on children's literature as background history on the impact unicorns have had in literature today. This book was incredibly well researched and has a wonderful bibliography for further research into the depths of your interest, whether it be involving the Bible, eastern sources, or the more modern European mythologies.