Boreman's Three Hundred Animals

A Description of above Three Hundred Animals, Viz, Beasts, Birds, Fishes, Serpents, & Insects. With a particular Account of the Manner of Catching Whales in Greenland Extracted from the best Authors, and adapted to the use of all capacities. Illustrated with 100 Elegant Copper Plates by Thomas Boreman. Published by Bell & Bradfute and W. Creech, 1767, [L(WHA)639.281] 

This is definitely another “Unlocked Treasure” housed in the Local Studies collection.  It is unusual to say the least, that a Local Studies library would house a children’s nature book. However, it was added to the Whaling collection at some point since it contains [in the words of Boreman] “a particular Account of the Manner of Catching Whales in Greenland”.

Initially, it appears to be a charming and well-illustrated natural history guide designed for children. In his note to the reader, the publisher and probably the author, Thomas Boreman discusses that many of the books meant to introduce children to the habit of reading “tend rather to cloy than entertain them; I have thought fit to engage their attention with short descriptions of animals, and pictures fairly drawn, which last, experience shews them to be much delighted with.”

Image 1 - Unicorn from Thomas Boreman's publication

It is unusual for its time since it was one of the earliest publications designed to entertain as well as educate children. However, this book is also fascinating for a variety of reasons.  It is interesting that it not only documents real animals, but mythical creatures as well such as a unicorn [image 1] and a manticora (a monster with the body of a lion, the head of a man, porcupine’s quills, and the tail or sting of a scorpion), which is evocative of the medieval period. This is when medieval bestiaries collated descriptions and illustrations of animals, which ranged from the mundane, ordinary to the imaginary, extraordinary creatures.  In most bestiaries the description contained Christian moral lessons. The bestiary was supposed to reflect and remind the reader of the link between God and the natural world, and the superiority of humans to beasts.

Understandably, given the period, some of the illustrations of the real creatures are not entire accurate! Based on the illustrator’s imagination, inaccurate written accounts of the individual animals or the wrong interpretation of those writings.

The volume also contains many foreign creatures such as lion, tiger [image 2], leopard [image 2]and ‘rhinocerot’ [rhinoceros]. This highlights and reflects the continued interest and knowledge of the wider world through the progress of European globalization in the 18th century. Unfortunately, the artist/artists of Boreman’s book are unknown which is a shame although they derived from Buffon and other naturalists. The variety of poses, design and shading used in the illustrations emphasises the care and effort that the artist/artists took and it would be fitting to recognize their “works of art”.

Image 2 - Tiger and Leopard from Boreman's publication

Although the three hundred animals descriptions and illustrations are not entirely accurate, they represent a “snapshot” of an era when there was a quest for knowledge outside of the local and regional level was gaining momentum and paving the way for a more sustained and accurate collection of data on many different subjects such as astronomy, geology, zoology, botany and geography.

Caoimhe West, Reader Assistant, “Unlocking the Treasures” project