Archaeology, History and Mythology

I think it was reading Gods, Graves, & Scholars by C W Ceram that gave me an interest in archaeology. I recently reread it and it is still a terrifically entertaining history of archaeology.

I can’t think of a more appropriately named author than P V Glob for The Bog People.

The Piltdown Men relates to a famous archaeological fraud. And The End of Atlantis by J V Luce

Another book on Atlantis or Mu as it was sometimes called in the 1970s. Also Pauwells & Berger’s The Dawn of Magic.

Proof copies of The Masks of God by Joseph Campbell, rather the worst for wear.

And finally –The Spanish Conquistadors by F A Kirkpatrick

Next – miscellaneous non fiction

A Miscellany

This entry marks the end of the art book section of my library. These books occupy the bottom shelf.

Below are some oddities that don't really fit anywhere else, so I've lumped them together.

Firstly, The Illustrated Golden Bough - A study in magic and religion, by Sir James George Frazer. I also have a very large hard cover called The Mythic Image by Joseph Campbell on the same sort of thing, but it is a bit too large to scan.

Another book on myth, a famous one at that, is this study of King Arthur. I was always fascinated by King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.

Another oddity - The Collectors Book of Children's Books by Eric Quale with one of the illustrations from the book representing a collection of first editions of the more prolific writers of the boy's adventure story with colourful pictorial cloth bindings.

This Max Ernst book, I recall was given to me by the Thames & Hudson Rep who offered me a free book from his catalogue. I chose this one, being a bit of a fan of Max Ernst.

Next, two famous Australian children's books, Snugglepot & Cuddlepie by May Gibbs and The Magic Pudding by Norman Lindsay.

These two books were staples of my childhood reading. They are both wonderfully illustrated.

The illustration below from Snugglepot & Cuddlepie has stayed with me forever. It horrified me when I was a child and still portrays the utter wickedness of the Banksia men very convincingly. I've never much cared for Banksias ever since, despite their very attractive flowers.

By comparison, Lindsay's illustrations are much more comical.

And finally, still on Australian humour and illustration Neil Curtis' Bear Dinkum - a charming eccentric graphic novel about a koala bear who becomes a master of the ballet in a very dinkum aussie way. The book is rather rare these days and I believe Neil Curtis is no longer with us, having died some years ago.

Click for larger images

Coming next - fantasy and science fiction