Sexy Suburban Snakes

One of the wonderful things about visiting suburbia is being able to bargain hunt at big chain stores. I love to frequent the end caps in the way way back of Targét, the super duper clearance racks at T.J Maxx and of course, the bargain section at Barnes and Noble where I unearthed this lovely tome for half its list price on Amazon. Cabinet of Natural Curiosities is filled with gorgeous illustrations by Albertus Seba and published by Taschen (This company is now synonymous with top of the line, beautifully color illustrated and totally massive coffee table books, but did you realize they were begun in the mid eighties by a twenty something comic book fanatic? Reading these books is a huge treat for your senses and stimulates your right brain instead of left. So refreshing.) This particular book is full of all the usual 17th Century specimens, butterflies, butterflies, birds, birds and more butterflies. But what caught my attention this time around were the snakes. They aren't exactly my favorite creatures, but just look how elegantly they are rendered here, like a series of extravagant curliques. They could almost be calligraphy; some founding father's flourish-y signature. I wonder if real snakes can move that way. If they could I'm sure I'd be as seduced by them as Eve was.