notbecauseofvictories:WRESTLING WITH JACOB1893–at Chicago’s Colombian Exposition, the first articula
notbecauseofvictories:WRESTLING WITH JACOB1893–at Chicago’s Colombian Exposition, the first articulated skeleton of Seraphinus familiaris, the Common Messenger Angel, is put on display. 1934–Seraphinus familiaris is declared an extinct species, along with S. principatus, S. dominicus, S. rotundus, and S. cherubus.1923. Professor Virginia Colmes has never doubted the importance of her work, her place as the Theozoology Chair of Lawrence College. She likes to quote Robert Browne to her students–Nature is the art of God, children! she’ll tell them as they gather around a fresh angel cadaver. And what better way to study His artistry than the making of His own hands?(She has the wings of an Ophanim displayed on the wall of her office–a gift, from the first Mrs. Astor. They have been beautifully taxidermied, not a feather lost. At the right angle, they look almost as they they might actually take flight.)Yet Virginia’s surety is wholly shattered when one of her students (Mr. Braithwaite, notable only for his poor grades) comes to her dragging an unconscious and bloody specimen of S. familiaris, adamant that Professor Colmes protect them both from further harm.He says its name is Machaton, as though angels had names.Thus does Virginia find herself drawn into the hidden world of the angel trade–and an adventure that will cause her to doubt everything she holds true. -- source link