Elephant Slaves and Pampered Parrots: Exotic Animals in Eighteenth-Century Paris

In 1775, a visitor to Laurent Spinacuta's Grande Ménagerie at the annual winter fair in Paris would have seen two tigers, several kinds of monkeys, an armadillo, an ocelot, and a condor—in all, forty—two live animals. In Elephant Slaves and Pampered Parrots, Louise Robbins explains that exotic animals from around the world were common in eighteenth—century Paris. In the streets of the city, residents and visitors could observe performing elephants and a fighting polar bear. Those looking fo...