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The above illustration first appeared in Conrad Gesner's Historae Animalium (Volume 4), published in 1558, six years before Shakespeare's birth. Gessener says of the creature, called a "Seabishop": It was in the year 1531 when such a fish with such a shape, completely resembling a bishop, was caught on the banks of the sea at Poland and shown to the Polish King. The Seabishop, through signs, meanings and cravings, expressed his great desire to return to the sea. To which, when he was brought to it, threw himself into it and the deepness of the sea closed around him. I knowingly omit more details concerning this creature because I think they are fictitious. |