Front
cover section of the complete wraparound cover artwork for my forthcoming book The
Menagerie of Marvels (© Anthony Wallis)
It was way back
in 1991 when my second book, Extraordinary Animals Worldwide, was
published, by Robert Hale Limited of London. Containing accounts of
lesser-known cryptozoological beasts and scarcely-known mainstream creatures,
and plentifully supplied with exquisite antiquarian chromolithographs,
engravings, and other vintage illustrations wherever possible, it purposefully
recalled a bygone generation of natural history books, dating predominantly
from the 19th and early 20th Centuries, whose subject
matter, generally a deft, eclectic interweaving of speculative zoology, the
history of animal discovery, and wildlife mythology of the ancients, was
popularly referred to by its authors and readers alike as romantic zoology.
Such was the
enduring appeal of my book's modern-day contribution to this now all-but-lost
subject – indeed, eventually gaining a cult status among cryptozoological
aficionados in particular – that I was encouraged to prepare a much-expanded,
updated edition, entitled Extraordinary Animals Revisited, which was
published in 2007, this time by CFZ Press. Updating some of the most popular
chapters from the original book and also adding many new ones, it went on to
attract an even greater following than its predecessor, and remains in print
today.
With
Extraordinary Animals Revisited at its official launch in August 2007 at
the CFZ's Weird Weekend (© Mark North)
By 'mixing and
matching' cryptozoology with mainstream zoology, these two books have each
enabled me to include within a single volume a much greater diversity of
creatures than in other works of mine, and in turn have indulged me in my
desire to investigate and write about certain truly obscure animals that have
long fascinated me. Consequently, it was only a matter of time before I would
give in to temptation and compile a third compendium of extraordinary animals -
and now I have done so, via my forthcoming 21st book.
Entitled The Menagerie of Marvels (and
employing the aforementioned phrase A Third Compendium of Extraordinary
Animals as its subtitle in order to confirm its inclusion within the Extraordinary
Animals canon of works), it is due to be published in good time for
Christmas, and once again by CFZ Press. So here, to tease and tantalise, is a
first sneak-preview, consisting of the truly spectacular artwork that
longstanding friend and superb artist Anthony Wallis has kindly prepared for
its wraparound cover – thanks Ant!
The
complete wraparound cover artwork for The Menagerie of Marvels (©
Anthony Wallis)
Demonstrating the diversity of this book's plentiful
contents (running to over 20 chapters and more than 260 pages), it features a
woolly mammoth, a Nandi bear in giant baboon mode, and, taking centre-stage in all
their rapacious glory, a very formidable pair of terror birds or phorusrhacids.
Further details concerning the numerous subjects
appearing within The Menagerie of Marvels will be released in future ShukerNature
sneak previews between now and its publication – so watch this space!
The first two volumes in my series of
Extraordinary Animals compendia (© Dr Karl Shuker)
Posts
Very cool Karl! The cover art for the new book looks awesome. I'll be sure to get it when it comes out… I've read your 2003 book The Beasts that Hide from Man and hope this one is just as good!
ReplyDeleteThis new book sounds fascinating, and I'll do my best to obtain a copy as soon as I can. I love that you write about lesser known cryptids, and so I find it surprising that you have yet to write about Panthera (leo?) atrox, the American cave lion. This feline is considered to be perhaps the largest, smartest (based on a brain size to body size ratio), and most powerful felid to ever walk this earth. From a cryptozoological standpoint, this creature could be responsible for the sightings of black panthers in the southern USA. It would be great if you could dwelve into this topic in an upcoming book. Thank you for listening, and I wish you the most luck.
ReplyDeleteI am very much looking forward to reading this book!
ReplyDelete