I drew another containing/contained/spirit snail drawing, inspired by The Anatomy of Melancholy. But this one is also inspired by a lesser-known Patricia Highsmith short story called “The Quest for Blank Claveringi,” originally published in her 1970 short story collection, The Snail-Watcher and Other Stories. I couldn’t find it online anywhere, sadly, so I can’t link to it. But suffice to say, did you know that snails have teeth? LIKE REALLY A LOT OF TEETH? I bet you are guessing at how many right now, and I can tell you, it depends on the species but probably it’s way more than that.
I read “The Quest for Blank Claveringi” for the first time twenty-five years ago, and I still have snail-y nightmares. It is a spectacular work of short fiction.
So anyways… Right now I’m reading a section of The Anatomy of Melancholy that is about meat. I didn’t feel like drawing meat today. I felt like drawing a toothy snail.
This post is part of a long, tedious, and very illustrated read-along of Robert Burton’s The Anatomy of Melancholy. More info here and follow along on Facebook here. Illustrations posted via devon_isadevon on Instagram.
I’ve been fighting for my life trying to find The Quest for Blank Claveringi Anywhere online. I found this post in my travels. Just saying hi!
Oh my gosh! Thanks for leaving this note. It made my day to know that someone else is as obsessed with that story as I am!