Jadeia

I keep a catalogue of dragons drawn by men who never saw one. Bestiary folios, woodcuts, engravings — the whole confident tradition of rendering a creature from hearsay and then signing your name beneath it.

There is no argument being advanced here. The plates are catalogued, dated where dating is honest, and credited to whoever held the burin. What I think of them is filed under Chronicles, which is as close as this archive comes to holding an opinion.

Everything in the collection is old enough to belong to everyone, and I have said so beneath each plate. Nothing here was invented for the occasion. That distinction matters more to me than it probably should.

The catalogue grows slowly. I am not in any particular hurry, and neither, historically, is the subject.

What is kept here

Five plates at present, each with a note on why it was worth keeping. The plates may be viewed on their own if you would rather not read my commentary on them, which is a reasonable preference and one I have some sympathy with.

The latest entry is V. On Keeping These at All, which answers a question I am asked rarely and answer badly.