14th century

on bizarre secrets. manuscripts. history. monsters. escargot pods.

Sosanni V

Sosanni V

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on bizarre secrets. manuscripts. history. monsters. escargot pods.
Snail with HeartShell. image in the public domain
from Snail Homes, Bog Bodies, and Mechanical Flies: Robert Testard’s Illustrations for Les secretz de l’histoire naturelle (ca. 1485)publipublic
Traponee, f. 60v: “Solinus says that among the progeny of Traponee grow the biggest snails that exist in the world, and they move so quickly that it is a marvel, and the men of the country hunt and chase them as we over here hunt wild animals. And the people of the region live on their flesh. And the shells are so big that the men and women of the country live inside them, and they have no other houses or habitations. - from Kristen Figg and John Friedman’s translated transcription of the manuscript.

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