ooh! i was just reading about the codex seraphinianus in alberto manguel's book a history of reading (in 1978 he was foreign-language editor at franco maria ricci in milan and remembers the stir when the manuscript arrived.) it is, manguel tells us, an encyclopaedia of an imaginary world devised along the lines of a medieval scientific compendium and written in an invented alphabet. you can see some of the illustrations on this page. wouldn't it be marvellous to have a look at this shaggy beast? if widener has got it i shall go look when i get back to school!