Louis Renard's 1718 book on the sea creatures of the East Indies, according to this book-lover's blog, is remarkable in several ways. It's beautiful: it's extremely rare: and there's a lot of license taken in the illustration of creatures the author never saw. Renard advertised the book as showing creatures drawn from life, including the mermaid. His mermaid is actually kind of interesting, as it shows a much longer fishlike body and tail than normal (there's a little of the oarfish about it, albeit not an accurate oarfish.) Anyway, enjoy the illustrations.
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