Here Be Dragons: A Fantastic Bestiary. By Ariane and Christian Delacampagne. Translated by Ariane Delacampagne. Princeton: Princeton UP, 2003. 200 pp. 186 color plates. This lavishly illustrated, multicultural study of fantastic animals depicted in art spanning over five thousand years covers an ambitious territory. In their introduction, authors identify three large themes: symbolic or religious function of fantastic animals; their genesis and their formal transformations; and ambiguous relationship between man and animal. Beginning with depiction of animals in art, work moves to a study of medieval bestiary and then to a historical overview of various creatures organized by type. From there it offers a discussion of relationship between diffusion and independent genesis of types, citing certain cultural circumstances that tend to lead to proliferation of fabulous animals, and concludes with a discussion of modern creations. It purports to be the first book to explore this subject with such cross-cultural and chronological range (book jacket), although emphasis leans heavily toward Western art, with solid attention to Middle Eastern traditions and some Asian. Pre-Columbian, Native American, and African art are briefly represented, but only brief, passing references are made to Pacific Island art. The first chapter (Symbols, Dreams, Religions) discusses fantastic animals as embodiments of sacred, or ... intermediaries whose function is to help humanity communicate with sacred (18). The discussion, largely focused on ancient cultures and medieval Christianity, of way these creatures function in the endless conversation between religion and sacred (21), lays a solid foundation. The overview that follows then distinguishes between those animals that have an educational function and those that have a magical function, as repositories of supernatural energy (36). I would like to have seen these crucial distinctions developed in more depth in subsequent chapters, but in chapter 2 (Inventing a Bestiary) authors turn to a historical overview of medieval bestiary as a way of illustrating the Aristotelian postulate that all works of art result from some type of (45). The authors argue that medieval bestiaries of Christian West result from imitation of erroneous perceptions or misleading descriptions, going back as far as Ctesias of Cnidus (fourth century BC), although main source for Middle Ages was Hellenistic compilation Physiologus (second century AD). Throughout Middle Ages, symbolic interpretations of fantastic creatures served as a basis for Christian moralization while also providing believers with a lexicon that could help them find meaning in slightest details of daily life (60). The discussion of bestiaries and section on medieval travelogues provide a useful introduction to these genres. The two following chapters (Unicorns and Human Hybrids and Flying Quadrupeds and Dragons) turn to a sustained discussion of fantastic creatures by type. Although they do not provide an exhaustive list, authors focus on five structures: unicorn, animal-headed human (e.g., Minotaur and Egyptian deities of pharaonic Egypt), human-headed animal (e.g., sphinx, centaur, siren), flying quadruped (e.g., Pegasus and griffin), and dragon. The discussions are largely structured as chronological catalogs of various creatures, with special attention given to diffusion. The territory is tantalizing, limitations being twofold. First, one would like to see more application of foundational discussion in chapter 1 of role of and way fantastic creatures negotiate between natural and supernatural. Second, brief discussions would be considerably enriched by more specific discussions of illustrations as a way to draw implications from large framing ideas. …