My
illustration of the Queensland tiger aka the yarri, which I ready as a
teenager again within the mid-/late1970s (© Dr Karl Shuker
Serendipity has performed a giant half in my
life, normally involving my searching for one factor and, whereas doing so, discovering
one thing solely completely different however equally worthwhile. And so it proved once more
at present.
As a youngster through the mid-/late Nineteen Seventies,
I would written a letter to Prof. Christopher Evans, a really notable Welsh scientist
and psychologist who at the moment was additionally performing as scientific advisor for ITV’s
hit British teenage-oriented sci fi TV present The
Tomorrow Folks. My letter involved a organic topic touched upon not
solely inside considered one of this present’s collection but in addition, and this time in rather more
element, inside an episode of the unique, traditional Star Trek TV present. I did not actually count on to obtain a reply, as I
assumed that he should obtain numerous letters from followers of the present, so I used to be
each shocked and delighted after I did certainly obtain one, within the type of a
charming, insightful letter from the person himself, which I significantly treasured –
and particularly so when Prof. Evans tragically died not lengthy afterwards, of most cancers,
in 1979, aged solely 48.
It occurred to me just lately that I sought
to scan this treasured letter from Prof. Evans and publish it right here on ShukerNature
with the background particulars main as much as it, thereby preserving it publicly
for posterity. So at present I sought out the folder through which I at all times believed it
to have been positioned by me way back for safekeeping – solely to understand to my
horror when looking for it that I now not had any thought the place mentioned folder
was! After a number of hours, nonetheless, I lastly uncovered it – solely to find
as soon as once more to my horror that it didn’t include mentioned letter! So now I’ve to
begin looking yet again for it.
Nevertheless, in that exact same folder I did
discover two different objects that caught my consideration, each of which I would hitherto
solely forgotten – a pair of color illustrations of two thriller mammals that I would ready at
a lot the identical time that I would written my letter to Prof. Evans, that means that they
are nearly 50 years outdated and have by no means been seen outdoors that folder – till
now. For though I freely confess that my creative makes an attempt fall far wanting
these fantastic artworks created by my varied bona fide artist mates on
social media and elsewhere, as they nonetheless represent considered one of my earliest
forays into creating cryptozoological output I felt that followers of my
Shukernature weblog may wish to see them, and likewise it implies that they’re now at
least for the current preserved on-line. So right here they’re.
My
copy of the hardback First Version of On the
Observe of Unknown Animals, by Dr Bernard Heuvelmans, that includes a number of line illustrations
by Monique Watteau on its dustjacket, together with her rendition of the Queensland
tiger (© Dr Bernard Heuvelmans/Monique Watteau/Rupert Hart-Davis – reproduced right here
on a strictly non-commercial Honest Use foundation for instructional/overview functions solely)
The primary one, opening this specific weblog
publish, is my color illustration of Australia’s elusive Queensland tiger or
yarri (documented by me right here on ShukerNature), which was
impressed by a b/w line drawing ready by French artist Monique Watteau that
appeared in veteran cryptozoologist Dr Bernard Heuvelmans’s seminal tome On the Observe of Unknown Animals (1958).
As well as, after I ready my above illustration, I had by no means encountered a
full-colour picture of the Queensland tiger anyplace, so mine may very well have
been the very first one ready (however do not quote me on this, simply in case!).
The second, posted beneath, is of
Africa’s enigmatic Congolese water elephant (documented by me right here on ShukerNature), which I recall
being impressed by one other unique line drawing in a publication, however I have not
been in a position to hint which one. I assumed that it was one other Watteau line
illustration from Heuvelmans’s afore-mentioned guide, however I can not discover any such
picture in it.
Anyway, I hope that you just get pleasure from viewing
them right here. In the meantime, my seek for the misplaced letter from Prof. Evans continues…
My
illustration of the Congolese water elephant, which I ready as a youngster
again within the Nineteen Seventies (© Dr Karl Shuker