(W) Brian Chidester (A) Joseph Baque A gorgeous art book that also tells the unbelievable story of Joseph Baqu?, a police officer and secretive artist who created 1500 imaginary creatures during the fascist era in Spain (1930s-60s) and told not a soul about them during his lifetime. Part Medieval-style bestiary, part natural history treatise, this remarkable body of work by Joseph Baqu? came to the public's attention only in 2011. With this book, author Brian Chidester has penned the first-ever critical biography of this enigmatic creator and of his strange, whimsical creations. Threading 20th century art history, Spain's fascist era, and what record there is of Baqu?'s personal life, Chidester presents a full picture of one of the most fascinating 'outsider art' careers of the 20th century. Grouped into nine distinct taxonomies - wild beasts, primitive men, bats, insects, giant spiders, snakes, cephalopods, crustaceans, birds, and fish - each creature is placed against a blank white backdrop and surrounded by a pencil-drawn square box. Despite setting up his creatures as species cl