Bestiary: An Illuminated Alphabet of Medieval Beasts

New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1998. The exquisite illustrations by author-painter Jonathan Hunt have made this book on mythological beasts a rare, hightly collectible children's book since it was first published 12 years ago. Rarer still is this Stated First Edition (and, unless it's stated, it's not) that also includes the complete "number line" ending in a "1" to indicate First Printing. (The copyright information is located at the rear of the book on the Bibliography Page.) The book features full-page as well as double spread color paintings of various mythical medieval beasts, with descriptive paragraphs, including the Amphisbaena, the Basilisk, the Catoblepas, the Dreaded Black Dog of Ireland and Scotland, the Echeneis, the Firedrake, the Griffin, the Hippocampus, the Ichneumon, the Javelin Snake, the Kraken, the Leucrocuta, the Manticore, the Nycticorax, the Ozaena, the Phoenix, the Questing Beast, the Roc, the Unicorn, the Vegetable Lamb, the Wyvern, the Xanthus, the Yale, and the Ziphius. The author also includes a Pronunciation Guide and a Bibliography. The endpapers are full color world maps depicting where each of these mytical beasts is found. The book is in Fine condtion with a Fine price-clipped dust jacket. There is a small gift insciption on the free front endpaper to the original owner. The book measures 9 3/8 by 12 1/4 inches. It is unpaginated but includes 48 pages. I've placed the dust jacket into an archival Brodart protective sleeve. . Stated First Edition. Hard Cover. Fine/Fine. Illus. by Jonathan Hunt. Folio - over 12" - 15" tall.