Child! do not throw this book about; Refrain from the unholy pleasure Of cutting all the pictures out! Preserve it as your chiefest treasure.

-Belloc, (Joseph) Hilaire Pierre
  The Bad Child's Book of Beasts, dedication.

   Hence loathe'  d Melancholy, Of Cerberus and blackest midnight born, In Stygian cave forlorn 'Mongst horrid shapes, and shrieks, and sights unholy, Find out some uncouth cell, Where brooding Darkness spreads his jealous wings, And the night-raven sings.

-Milton,John
c.1631 L'Allegro, opening lines.