A pioneer in the strange art and ambiguous science of zo phagy-that is, of studying animals by eating them-British natural historian FRANCIS TREVELYAN BUCKLAND (1826-1880) was a wildly popular speaker and writer of the Victorian era. In his classic four-volume Curiosities of Natural History, published between 1857 and 1872, he shared his love of creatures exotic and mysterious with readers who devoured his charming and erudite essays much in the same way he devoured his animal subjects. "If there is one person that I would have expected to have captured a sea serpent in the 19th century for the sole purpose of eating it, it would be Frank Buckland," writes cryptozoologist Loren Coleman in his new introduction to Buckland's series. One of the founding grandfathers of cryptozoology, the discipline that investigates animal mysteries, Buckland was not "a wild-eyed 'true believer' in anything strange," insists Coleman, but brought, instead, "a skeptical, open-minded approach" to his work. Indeed, here, in the "fourth series" of Curiosities of Natural History, Buckland's erudition is clear in his animated discussions of, among many other things, measuring a French giant, the "woolly woman of Hayti," performing fleas, six thousand parakeets, the intemperance of salmon, and fossil pork. This new edition, a replica of the 1888 "Popular Edition," is part of Cosimo's Loren Coleman Presents series. LOREN COLEMAN is author of numerous books of cryptozoology, including Bigfoot : The True Story of Apes in America and Mothman and Other Curious Encounters.

A pioneer in the strange art and ambiguous science of zo phagy-that is, of studying animals by eating them-British natural historian FRANCIS TREVELYAN BUCKLAND (1826-1880) was a wildly popular speaker and writer of the Victorian era. In his classic four-volume Curiosities of Natural History, published between 1857 and 1872, he shared his love of creatures exotic and mysterious with readers who devoured his charming and erudite essays much in the same way he devoured his animal subjects. "If there is one person that I would have expected to have captured a sea serpent in the 19th century for the sole purpose of eating it, it would be Frank Buckland," writes cryptozoologist Loren Coleman in his new introduction to Buckland's series. One of the founding grandfathers of cryptozoology, the discipline that investigates animal mysteries, Buckland was not "a wild-eyed 'true believer' in anything strange," insists Coleman, but brought, instead, "a skeptical, open-minded approach" to his work. Indeed, here, in the "third series" of Curiosities of Natural History, Buckland's erudition is clear in his animated discussions of, among many other things, a monster lobster, a zoological auction, traps for wild monkeys, the sensation of camel-riding, and determining the temperature of a porpoise's breath. This new edition, a replica of the 1888 "Popular Edition," is part of Cosimo's Loren Coleman Presents series. LOREN COLEMAN is author of numerous books of cryptozoology, including Bigfoot : The True Story of Apes in America and Mothman and Other Curious Encounters.

A pioneer in the strange art and ambiguous science of zo phagy-that is, of studying animals by eating them-British natural historian FRANCIS TREVELYAN BUCKLAND (1826-1880) was a wildly popular speaker and writer of the Victorian era. In his classic four-volume Curiosities of Natural History, published between 1857 and 1872, he shared his love of creatures exotic and mysterious with readers who devoured his charming and erudite essays much in the same way he devoured his animal subjects. "If there is one person that I would have expected to have captured a sea serpent in the 19th century for the sole purpose of eating it, it would be Frank Buckland," writes cryptozoologist Loren Coleman in his new introduction to Buckland's series. One of the founding grandfathers of cryptozoology, the discipline that investigates animal mysteries, Buckland was not "a wild-eyed 'true believer' in anything strange," insists Coleman, but brought, instead, "a skeptical, open-minded approach" to his work. Indeed, here, in the "second series" of Curiosities of Natural History, Buckland's erudition is clear in his animated discussions of, among many other things, a dish of fossil fish, a gamekeeper's museum, the gypsy mode of cooking hedgehogs, and practical uses for whale bones. This new edition, a replica of the original 1871 seventh edition, is part of Cosimo's Loren Coleman Presents series. LOREN COLEMAN is author of numerous books of cryptozoology, including Bigfoot : The True Story of Apes in America and Mothman and Other Curious Encounters.

A pioneer in the strange art and ambiguous science of zophagy-that is, of studying animals by eating them-British natural historian FRANCIS TREVELYAN BUCKLAND (1826-1880) was a wildly popular speaker and writer of the Victorian era. In his classic four-volume Curiosities of Natural History, published between 1857 and 1872, he shared his love of creatures exotic and mysterious with readers who devoured his charming and erudite essays much in the same way he devoured his animal subjects. If there is one person that I would have expected to have captured a sea serpent in the 19th century for the sole purpose of eating it, it would be Frank Buckland, writes cryptozoologist Loren Coleman in his new introduction to Buckland's series. One of the founding grandfathers of cryptozoology, the discipline that investigates animal mysteries, Buckland was not a wild-eyed 'true believer' in anything strange, insists Coleman, but brought, instead, a skeptical, open-minded approach to his work. Indeed, here, in the first series of Curiosities of Natural History, Buckland's erudition is clear in his animated discussions of, among many other things, the stupidity of newts, French sailors eating rats, skinning a boa constrictor, how a fish might drown, and the cunning of monkeys. This new edition, a replica of the original 1858 third edition, is part of Cosimo's Loren Coleman Presents series. LOREN COLEMAN is author of numerous books of cryptozoology, including Bigfoot : The True Story of Apes in America and Mothman and Other Curious Encounters.

"Loren Coleman is the first and last name in cryptozoology. He's blazed the trail for so many of us. Massachusetts mysteries like the Dover Demon and the Bridgewater Triangle have names because Coleman discovered and named them. His years of research gathering the cryptid sightings, physical evidence, and details of these strange creatures and legends have paid off in a big way in "Monsters of Massachusetts.""
--Jeff Belanger, author of "Weird Massachusetts"

Bizarre beasts of the Bay State featured in this volume include . . .

• Dover Demon
• Gloucester Sea Serpent
• Hockomock Swamp's Beasties
• Pukwudgees
• Bigfoot

In this compelling compilation of evidence, researcher Mark Hall presents the case for terrifying, monstrous bird that has roamed our continents since the days of the ancient legends of the Thunderbird. Some very large birds are being sighted in the skies over North America. Described as an enormous black bird with a white ring around its long neck and a wingspan of up to 20 feet and more, this giant bird of prey has been sighted from Alaska, Canada, and the Pacific Northwest, and into the Midwest, Appalachia, and Pennsylvania. The accounts are puzzling and hard to believe yet eyewitnesses swear by what they saw. Evidence from around the world indicates that our ancestors knew and feared the bird, which can carry away small children and animals.

Eclectic British scholar SABINE BARING-GOULD (1834-1924) inspired My Fair Lady, wrote the hymn "Onward Christian Soldiers," and published more than five hundred literary works. Among his foremost folkloric studies is 1865's The Book of Werewolves, the first serious academic study of the shape-shifters of mythological lore. "This work is the most frequently cited early study of lycanthropy and is regarded by most scholars as the foundation work in the field," says cryptozoologist Loren Coleman in his new introduction. "The Book of Werewolves was so visionary that it foresaw that future discussions within werewolf studies would necessarily travel down many side paths. Indeed, midway through The Book of Werewolves, Baring-Gould treks into the shadowy world of crimes vaguely connected to werewolves, including serial murders, grave desecration, and cannibalism." This new edition, complete with the original illustrations, is part of Cosimo's Loren Coleman Presents series. LOREN COLEMAN is author of numerous books of cryptozoology, including Bigfoot : The True Story of Apes in America and Mothman and Other Curious Encounters.

Mysterious and strange are the ocean depths, but pioneering cyptozoologist ANTOON CORNELIS OUDEMANS (1858-1943) attempted to bring some order to the realm with this 1892 survey of the reports of monsters of the sea, the first of its kind. Gathering sightings from around the globe and across the centuries, Oudemans eliminates the obvious hoaxes or honest mistakes and then, from dozens of legitimate sighting, draws conclusions about sea-serpent physiology, geographic distribution, and more. This astonishing book "still influences thoughts and theories about the great unknowns in the oceans," says cryptozoologist Loren Coleman in his new introduction in this edition, part of Cosimo's Loren Coleman Presents series.

"Night-attack of wolves in Mongolia." "Nearly fatal combat with a kangaroo." "Comic scenes with the Elephant." "Captain Herriman examines a supposed Sea-serpent." This charming book, published by British naturalist PHILIP HENRY GOSSE (1810-1888) in 1860, was a best seller in its day, and no wonder: this is a passionate around-the-world journey through nature both wild and serene... and mysterious. "In the annals of cryptozoology," says cryptozoologist Loren Coleman in his new introduction, "Gosse is credited as one of the grandfathers of the discipline... In this book, one finds his records of the sea serpent, giant snakes, African unicorn, South America ape, and Ceylonese devil-bird, reflecting this early interest in romantic zoology, the precursor of cryptozoology." This new edition, complete with the original elegant illustrations, is part of Cosimo's Loren Coleman Presents series. LOREN COLEMAN is author of numerous books of cryptozoology, including BIGFOOT : The True Story of Apes in America, and Mothman and Other Curious Encounters.

Little is known of Dutch author MARINUS WILLEM DE VISSER (1876-1930) beyond his academic life as a classicist with an interest in Chinese and Japanese language and culture, and as a popularizer of Japanese art in the Netherlands. He is best remembered today for having given us a cornerstone examination of the legends of fantastic flying reptiles known as dragons. The Dragon in China and Japan contains "the most interesting quotations concerning the dragon in China, systematically arranged, selected from the enormous number of passages on this fantastic animal in Chinese literature, from the remotest eras down to modern times," notes cryptozoologist Loren Coleman in his new introduction. Coleman also praises the book's use of primary source material. "If cryptozoologists are to study the Asian dragons of India, China, and Japan, it must not be done through the screen of today's New Age mentality. Scholarly, level-headed examinations of living, breathing reports of serpentine flying beasts, water-borne megafauna, and shadowy entities must be balanced with investigations of the legends and folktales of these dragons from Asian texts," such as de Visser's here. This new edition, a replica of the 1913 first edition complete with extensive notes in the original Asian alphabet, is part of Cosimo's Loren Coleman Presents series. LOREN COLEMAN is author of numerous books of cryptozoology, including Bigfoot : The True Story of Apes in America and Mothman and Other Curious Encounters.

A geological surveyor by trade, English author CHARLES GOULD (1834-1893) was rather more interested in the strange ornithological specimens he collected on his journeys around the world. Mythical Monsters, the result of this deep and abiding fascination, is one of the classics of the field of cryptozoology, or the study of unknown or hidden creatures. Mythical Monsters "reflects the curiosity for the natural world that Gould] carried with him in his travels for most of his life," says cryptozoologist Loren Coleman in his new introduction. "The book, naturally, dwells on geological mysteries early in its pages, merging in his thoughts on Atlantis, the Great Flood, and evidence for such events he saw written in the land. But the bulk of the book is about 'monsters' that intrigued Gould, including the unicorn, the phoenix, and the dragon." Monsters also features an essential section on the mysterious beasts of the ocean depths. This new edition, a replica of the original 1886 first edition complete with the original illustrations, is part of Cosimo's Loren Coleman Presents series. LOREN COLEMAN is author of numerous books of cryptozoology, including Bigfoot : The True Story of Apes in America and Mothman and Other Curious Encounters.