Peacock

(Paperback)

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Description

The first record of a peacock in the Middle East, taken there from its homeland in the Indus Valley, was when King Solomon imported them c.950 BCE. The story of the peacock spread westwards and its impact on different countries is both surprising and fascinating. Peacocks became the subject of fairy stories, legends, fables, myths and superstitions. This is the first book to bring together all the facets of the peacock including natural and social history, its role in religions and mythology in the east and west, and its place in the history of art and artefacts.

Reviews

Part of Reaktions compact and bijou (and lavishly illustrated) Animal series, Jacksons volume glides through the social and natural history of this most royal and untouchable of birds with maximum elegance and minimum fuss. * Guardian *
The latest addition to Reaktions excellent animal series . . . Winging around the globe, Jackson explores the birds remarkable associations, from Persia to Whistler. * The Independent *
The peacock hogs the limelight in the visual world, featuring in illustrated manuscripts, paintings, tapestries, mosaics, porcelain and bolts of Arts-and-Crafts fabric, but he is a slim presence in the written world. My favourite book is Peacock by Christine E. Jackson, a scholarly ornithologist and a true writer. * Country Life *
Christine Jacksons Peacock is a gem of a book that will delight bird lovers and art historians alike * Archives of Natural History *

Author Bio

Christine E. Jackson is a Fellow of the Linnean Society, and a committee member of The Society for the History of Natural History for which she was awarded The Founders' Medal in 1996. Her previous publications include Bird Paintings: The Eighteenth Century (1994), Sarah Stone: Natural Curiosities from the New Worlds (1998), Dictionary of Bird Artists of the World (1999), Sir William Jardine: A Life in Natural History (2001) and Peacock (Reaktion, 2006)