Merry holidays! Right here’s a reasonably unremarkable e book with a perfunctory title however, admittedly, a relatively hanging cowl. Prehistoric Animals, by Sam and Beryl Epstein with illustrations by W R Lohse, was first revealed by George C. Harrap & Co within the UK in 1958, with this version arriving in 1959. For its time, it’s not half unhealthy, even when the monochrome illustrations aren’t essentially all that thrilling for our functions. That jacket, although…
There’s one factor I need to handle first – specifically, that Iguanodon is depicted squishing one other, a lot smaller creature underfoot, apparently by chance. Which is marvellous. What an unlikely depiction of incidental behaviour to incorporate on a e book cowl in any respect, by no means thoughts within the Nineteen Fifties, when everybody was content material to simply hint over their quantity of The Prolonged Works of Chazza Knight and name it a day. The red-on-green distinction is actually hanging, too, as is the fetching dappled sample on Captain Stabbyhands. Suitably lush vegetation helps draw us into this savage world of primordial, barely clumsy animals. Pretty stuff. By no means thoughts no matter that’s within the prime proper.
Intriguingly, the signature right here seems to learn “Cullen,” relatively than Lohse. I can’t appear to seek out any related credit score inside, although.
Inside, the title web page options Allosaurus, and it isn’t too unhealthy for the time – upright, positive, however with its tail away from the bottom and anatomy that’s, you realize, half first rate. The striping could be very dapper, and it’s standing on a convincingly uneven rocky panorama. Good begin.
Even higher is the Plateosaurus that seems a bit additional in, for it’s a biped! After all, von Huene had realised some years prior that the animal labored finest on two legs, however that didn’t cease individuals regularly restoring it as a quadruped (often with semi-splayed limbs and/or an enormously extensive ribcage). For 1958, it is a totally first rate illustration. One may also respect the ability that went into the traces right here – the artwork of inferring necessary particulars, similar to musculature, with a minimal variety of pen strokes. And the foliage is fairly good, too.
Inevitably, one factor results in one other, and you find yourself with eusauropods. Right here’s Brachiosaurus, wading by means of a swamp as a result of it was the Nineteen Fifties, in spite of everything. Attention-grabbing perspective, right here – it’s tempting to suppose that Lohse has skimped on the animal’s nasal crest, however the implication appears to be that its head is tilted up and barely away from us, such that the crest is just foreshortened. The top is actually fairly effectively noticed in any other case, even given how few traces are concerned. Notice additionally the massive muscle mass on the precise forelimb and the ridge working down the neck, and the way in which that the distant mountains assist emphasise the animal’s nice top.
After all, you knew it needed to get wacky sooner or later, and so right here’s Parasaurolophus with a ruddy nice fin working down its again, like some form of overgrown amphibious lizard. Which is sort of actually the thought. It appears to be like fairly wild, although – positive, there are many depictions of this animal during which a pores and skin flap extends from its crest right down to its neck, however all the way in which down its again? Forming a sail? To be honest, this doesn’t half resemble how the animal appeared in Fantasia, which, in fact, is older than this e book by some years. Disney’s Finest Movie (oh sure – no arguments) would possibly effectively be the important thing supply of inspiration, right here.
Good timber, although. Timber!
Elsewhere, Styracosaurus might have a relatively lumpy, warty physique and shapeless tail, however a minimum of it has an honest-to-goodness frill with horns extending from it (relatively than the horns beginning instantly behind its eyes) and a sharp beak. It’s nearly as if the authors consulted the AMNH – as a result of, effectively, they did! “Mrs Mary B Patsuris and Dr Bob Schaeffer, of the Division of Geology and Palaeontology,” to be exact. It may be a bit bottom-heavy, however a minimum of our spiked buddy has a good head on its shoulders.
Along with Styracosaurus, there’s actually a Tyrannosaurus on this e book. I really feel obliged to incorporate it, even when this illustration is…high quality. There’s nothing notably unhealthy about it, but it surely’s additionally very near works by Knight, specifically, with out being a duplicate. As soon as once more, the implication of a tough pores and skin texture is sort of superbly achieved, and I just like the free flap of pores and skin hanging down from the throat – a show construction, maybe? It’s curious that its decrease enamel appear much more outstanding than these in its higher jaw, and that mouth appears to be like prefer it may have been drawn with a ruler, however by no means thoughts. Pleasant interval options embody a outstanding hallux that contacts the bottom, presumably to assist the animal’s copious bulk. Not less than he’ll get dwelling simpler after an evening on the tiles.
Amid all the joy, let’s not overlook that this e book is entitled Prehistoric Animals – not even one thing like ‘Dinosaurs and OtherPrehistoricAnimals’, however Prehistoric Animals. Positive sufficient (and regardless of there being a dinosaur on the quilt, ‘cos everyone knows what sells), there’s loads of non-dinosaur prehistoric life to be discovered right here. Like this plesiosaur, which I’ve partly included as a result of it’s a exceptional instance of a Nineteen Fifties illustration of a plesiosaur fully submerged within the water, however principally as a result of its head jogs my memory of that troll face meme. You realize the one. Though I may be exhibiting my age.
There are even various mammals on this e book, should you can consider that. (If anybody cares, I may be inclined to submit a follow-up article that includes them.) Certainly one of my favourites is the above Megaloceros, not simply due to the incredible title of the chapter it seems in, but in addition due to these antlers. The way in which they’re depicted with a posh, swirling association of traces is just extraordinary. They without delay seem spidery and fully stable, seemingly reaching outwards like fingers or tentacles from the animal’s head into the encircling area. Pretty work.
By the way, whereas solely credited as “W R Lohse” right here, the artist was presumably Willis Rudolph Lohse, a German who lived from 1890 till 1969, apparently recognized for his watercolours. It’s a disgrace that there are not any color plates on this e book – I’d like to have seen him given the possibility to point out off his expertise as a palaeoartist with out the restrictions that the e book’s format imposed on him.
And eventually…SPLIT YOUR LUNGS WITH BLOOD AND THUNDER! WHEN YOU SEE THE, er, BLACK WHALE! BREAK YOUR BACKS AND CRACK YOUR OARS, MEN, IF YOU WISH TO PREVAIL! That’s fairly the whale. What tumult, what drama! It solely needed to be an illustration of a whale, however Lohse made it an evocative Monstro worthy of a narrative e book. You realize, maybe this e book isn’t so unremarkable in spite of everything.