'FINDING OUT' - THE 36 CRYPTOZOOLOGICAL/MYTHOLOGICAL BACK COVERS AT LONG LAST!

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

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

FINDING OUT ABOUT 'FINDING OUT'!

Naga king, from Finding Out (Angus McBride)

Scottish cryptozoologist Alan Pringle has brought to my attention a very intriguing mystery of the cryptozoologically-related kind. Back in 1970 or 1971, at a friend's home, he saw a complete set of a magazine partwork series containing at least 30-40 issues, on an encyclopaedic or scientific theme (possibly aimed at children), and entitled Finding Out.

However, it was not their contents, but their covers, that attracted his particular interest and attention, because each issue's back cover featured an animal or entity from the myths and legends of the world, including a number that have cryptozoological relevance. A very dramatic, full-colour illustration of the creature occupied one half of the cover's page, with accompanying text occupying the other half.

The creatures that Alan can definitely remember appearing in this set of covers included the western dragon, eastern dragon, siren, tokoloshe, leshy, thunderbird, Midgard serpent, Assyrian winged bull, minotaur, centaur, bunyip, Egyptian ammut (soul eater), sphinx, and harpy. Others that he thinks may have been present include the werewolf, vampire, unicorn, cyclops, zombie, and banshee.

Alan has never seen this partwork again (and has long since lost contact with the friend who owned it), but he can still vividly recall some of the back covers due to their very eyecatching nature. I have certainly never seen them, and despite their dramatic appeal they do not seem to have been reproduced in any other publication. Moreover, in a letter to me from Phil Hide of Aylesbury, I learned that he actually owns most issues of this partwork up to volume 11, and that it was published by Purnell & Sons. Unfortunately, none of those particular issues' covers has any cryptozoology painting!

Happily, however, I have also received a letter from Alex Lamprey of Cardiff, who owns seven issues from volumes 16 and 17, and each of these issues' covers does depict a mystery beast or legendary entity. These are: sea serpents, bunyips, the cailleach-bheur, morrigan, gnomes, the Little People, and lamassu. Obviously, therefore, this series of illustrations did not begin until sometime after volume 11. The artist responsible for them was Angus McBride.

If there is anyone else out there who has seen this partwork (or, better still, owns an edition of it ior at least a run of those issues with cryptozoological back covers), or can offer any extra details, I'd love to hear from you.

STOP PRESS: 20 February 2011.

I'm delighted - and extremely grateful - to say that Alex Lamprey has very kindly donated to me his above-mentioned seven copies of Finding Out. They arrived this weekend, and their Angus McBride back-cover illustrations are every bit as spectacular as I'd hoped for! Needless to say, these near-legendary magazines (at least in my eyes!) now constitute a greatly-treasured addition to my library and images archive, and I shall be keeping a sharp lookout for the remaining 23 issues with McBride zoomythological back covers in order to complete my collection. Meanwhile, a massive THANK YOU!! to Alex for fulfilling a long-held ambition of mine to own at least some of them.


STOP PRESS: 3 March 2011.

Click here to read the fully-illustrated version of my ShukerNature blog post containing today's very exciting news! Thanks to the kindness of correspondent Ivan Waldock, who owns all 36 issues of Finding Out that possess cryptozoological/mythological back cover illustrations, and has sent me a scan of every one of them, I have been able at long last to provide the full set here online!