The Dragonology Handbook by Ernest Drake

The Dragonology Handbook by Ernest Drake

Toxicology in Antiquity provides an authoritative and fascinating exploration into the use of toxins and poisons in antiquity. It brings together the two previously published shorter volumes on the topic, as well as adding considerable new information. Part of the History of Toxicology and Environmental Health series, it covers key accomplishments, scientists, and events in the broad field of toxicology, including environmental health and chemical safety. This first volume sets the tone for the series and starts at the very beginning, historically speaking, with a look at toxicology in ancient times. The book explains that before scientific research methods were developed, toxicology thrived as a very practical discipline. People living in ancient civilizations readily learned to distinguish safe substances from hazardous ones, how to avoid these hazardous substances, and how to use them to inflict harm on enemies. It also describes scholars who compiled compendia of toxic agents. New chapters in this edition focus chiefly on evidence for the use of toxic agents derived from religious texts.

According to legend, Dr. Ernest Drake lived in St. Leonard's Forest, Sussex, England, in the late 1800s and to have published Dragonology in 1895 in a very restricted edition of 100 copies. Dr Ernest Drake, a prominent dragonologist and a founding member of London's Secret & Ancient Society of Dragonologists, was determined to bring the study of dragons under the rising canopy of nineteenth-century natural sciences. He was certain that dragons existed, and his notes indicate that he had plenty of experience with them. Only one copy of Dragonology is known to have ever been seen in public, having been discovered in the basement of a secondhand bookstore in London in 1987.

A note, dated 1904, sent to an anonymous apprentice accompanied the book. The meticulous work of Dr. Ernest Drake has been authentically replicated in this one-of-a-kind volume. Douglas Carrel, Chief Draughtsman: A Scotsman by birth, Douglas Carrel was a well-known dragonologist who frequently accompanied Dr Drake on his more profitable trips. In a letter to the editor from Constantinople, he writes, It is with great honour, and not a little pride, that I offer my assistance to the compilation of this very meritorious collection.