White Buffalo - my favourite Angus McBride cryptozoological/mythological illustration from the back covers of Finding Out (Angus McBride)As readers of my ShukerNature blog for 18 September 2009 and my various Alien Zoo reports on this subject in Fortean Times will know, ever since I first learnt of them way back in 1998 from Scottish cryptozoological enthusiast Alan Pringle I have been eagerly seeking sight of the 36 lavish, full-colour illustrations by the late, highly-acclaimed artist Angus McBride depicting a wide selection of cryptozoological and mythological entities that graced some of the back covers of the long-running children's weekly factual magazine Finding Out, which was published in Britain during the 1960s. Now at last, thanks to the kindness of correspondent Ivan Waldock, my wish has finally been granted.
Not only is Ivan the proud possessor of all of these particular issues of Finding Out, he actually owns the original McBride artwork for five of them (namely, the Midgard Serpent, the Naga King, Cyclopses, the Leshy and Huitzilopochtli), and has very kindly emailed me jpg image files of all 36 of the illustrations, together with a full listing of them as they appeared in the magazine.
So here is the listing, followed by, for the first time anywhere online, the full set of the near-legendary Angus McBride cryptozoological and mythological back cover illustrations from Finding Out; these particular issues were all published in 1966. Thanks again to Ivan for making this possible, and to Alan for originally bringing the existence of these wonderful works of art to my attention. Thanks also to Stephen Tomlin of Melbourne, Australia, who in November 2010 provided me with a partial listing of the covers based upon his own collection of some of the relevant Finding Out issues, and to Alex Lamprey who very kindly donated to me recently his own collection of seven of those issues.
Please note: these illustrations are reproduced here for information purposes only, not for any commercial use; all copyright resides with the estate of Angus McBride, who died in 2007.
Volume 15 Issue No 11 - Dragon
Volume 15 Issue No 12 - Unicorns
Volume 16 Issue No 01 - Sirens as Mermaids
Volume 16 Issue No 02 - Gryphons
Volume 16 Issue No 03 - Sea Serpent
Volume 16 Issue No 04 - Phoenix
Volume 16 Issue No 05 - Harpies
Volume 16 Issue No 06 - Satyrs
Volume 16 Issue No 07 - Nymphs
Volume 16 Issue No 08 - The Wild Hunt
Volume 16 Issue No 09 - Hippocampi
Volume 16 Issue No 10 - Bunyip
Volume 16 Issue No 11 - Tokoloshe
Volume 16 Issue No 12 - Maero
Volume 17 Issue No 01 - White Buffalo
Volume 17 Issue No 02 - Cailleach-Bheur
Volume 17 Issue No 03 - Midgard Serpent
Volume 17 Issue No 04 - Morrigan
Volume 17 Issue No 05 - Werewolf
Volume 17 Issue No 06 - Thunderbird
Volume 17 Issue No 07 - Centaurs
Volume 17 Issue No 08 - Gnomes
Volume 17 Issue No 09 - Little People
Volume 17 Issue No 10 - Lamassu
Volume 17 Issue No 11 - Sphinx
Volume 17 Issue No 12 - Cyclopses
Volume 18 Issue No 01 - Paul Bunyan and Babe
Volume 18 Issue No 02 - Chinese Dragon
Volume 18 Issue No 03 - Minotaur
Volume 18 Issue No 04 - Huitzilopochtli (Aztec Hummingbird God)
Volume 18 Issue No 05 - Amemit (=Ammut)
Volume 18 Issue No 06 - Leshy
Volume 18 Issue No 07 - Naga King
Volume 18 Issue No 08 - Domovoi
Volume 18 Issue No 09 - Poleviks
Volume 18 Issue No 10 - Tarasque
Not only is Ivan the proud possessor of all of these particular issues of Finding Out, he actually owns the original McBride artwork for five of them (namely, the Midgard Serpent, the Naga King, Cyclopses, the Leshy and Huitzilopochtli), and has very kindly emailed me jpg image files of all 36 of the illustrations, together with a full listing of them as they appeared in the magazine.
So here is the listing, followed by, for the first time anywhere online, the full set of the near-legendary Angus McBride cryptozoological and mythological back cover illustrations from Finding Out; these particular issues were all published in 1966. Thanks again to Ivan for making this possible, and to Alan for originally bringing the existence of these wonderful works of art to my attention. Thanks also to Stephen Tomlin of Melbourne, Australia, who in November 2010 provided me with a partial listing of the covers based upon his own collection of some of the relevant Finding Out issues, and to Alex Lamprey who very kindly donated to me recently his own collection of seven of those issues.
Please note: these illustrations are reproduced here for information purposes only, not for any commercial use; all copyright resides with the estate of Angus McBride, who died in 2007.
Volume 15 Issue No 11 - Dragon
Volume 15 Issue No 12 - Unicorns
Volume 16 Issue No 01 - Sirens as Mermaids
Volume 16 Issue No 02 - Gryphons
Volume 16 Issue No 03 - Sea Serpent
Volume 16 Issue No 04 - Phoenix
Volume 16 Issue No 05 - Harpies
Volume 16 Issue No 06 - Satyrs
Volume 16 Issue No 07 - Nymphs
Volume 16 Issue No 08 - The Wild Hunt
Volume 16 Issue No 09 - Hippocampi
Volume 16 Issue No 10 - Bunyip
Volume 16 Issue No 11 - Tokoloshe
Volume 16 Issue No 12 - Maero
Volume 17 Issue No 01 - White Buffalo
Volume 17 Issue No 02 - Cailleach-Bheur
Volume 17 Issue No 03 - Midgard Serpent
Volume 17 Issue No 04 - Morrigan
Volume 17 Issue No 05 - Werewolf
Volume 17 Issue No 06 - Thunderbird
Volume 17 Issue No 07 - Centaurs
Volume 17 Issue No 08 - Gnomes
Volume 17 Issue No 09 - Little People
Volume 17 Issue No 10 - Lamassu
Volume 17 Issue No 11 - Sphinx
Volume 17 Issue No 12 - Cyclopses
Volume 18 Issue No 01 - Paul Bunyan and Babe
Volume 18 Issue No 02 - Chinese Dragon
Volume 18 Issue No 03 - Minotaur
Volume 18 Issue No 04 - Huitzilopochtli (Aztec Hummingbird God)
Volume 18 Issue No 05 - Amemit (=Ammut)
Volume 18 Issue No 06 - Leshy
Volume 18 Issue No 07 - Naga King
Volume 18 Issue No 08 - Domovoi
Volume 18 Issue No 09 - Poleviks
Volume 18 Issue No 10 - Tarasque
Dragon
Unicorns
Sirens as Mermaids
Gryphons
Sea Serpent
Phoenix
Harpies
Satyrs
Nymphs
The Wild Hunt
Hippocampi
Bunyip
Tokoloshe
Maero
White Buffalo (=Bison)
Cailleach-Bheur
Midgard Serpent
Morrigan
Werewolf
Thunderbird
Centaurs
Gnomes
Little People
Lamassu
Sphinx
Cyclopses
Paul Bunyan and Babe
Chinese Dragon
Minotaur
Huitzilopochtli (The Aztec Hummingbird God)
Amemit (=Ammut)
Leshy
Naga King
Domovoi
Poleviks
Tarasque
Posts
What a pleasure to see these illustrations from Finding Out magazine after more than forty years. I attended a primary school that collected these part-works. At seven years old I was completely captivated by this particular feature and -- beyond the already familiar beasts from European folklore and Greek or Norse mythology -- I became acquainted with even more exotic creatures like the tokoloshe, bunyip etc. At about the same time there appeared to be a series of children's books in the school library written by Judith Whitlock (and illustrated by Leslie Green) about a bunyip: Bunyip at the Seaside being the title I best remember.
ReplyDeleteFive years later, singer John Kongos brought the tokoloshe to perhaps its widest recognition by the release of pop record Tokoloshe Man. I felt quite pleased with myself at that point that I knew what a tokoloshe was!
Thanks for posting these images from Finding Out. Like the previous commentator, these bring back good childhood memories. Unfortunately, at some point in my teens, I thought that I had outgrown them, and gave away my collection of Finding Out. Would it be possible to for you to post the short articles that went with these illustrations, or would there be copyright problems?
ReplyDeleteSadly, I don't have most of the magazines themselves, just the back cover illustrations.
ReplyDeleteAngus McBride's art was badass. Truly an awesome style.
ReplyDeleteI actually own a couple of the original paintings from this series (looking at them on my wall right now). This is the first time I've seen all the rest. Thank you so much for sharing. Angus McBride is my all-time favorite artist!
ReplyDeleteI too own a few paintings from this series, weirdly, my name is Ivan also ! I agree Angus was fantastic... this series in particular, so many different styles...
DeleteGod, these are gorgeous! Thank you for posting them ^^
ReplyDeleteIf Naga and Lamassu ones were bigger, I'd print them to hang on my wall.