The 22nd Japan Horror Grand Prize (2015) winner, "Bogiwan ga Kuru" (Bogiwan Is Coming) by Ichi Sawamura (Kadokawa Shoten), was as entertaining as expected. The monstrous "Bogiwan," which spreads terror wherever it goes, is an original creation by the author, but its name is said to be derived from the Boogie Man, an ancient European monster that came to Japan with missionaries during the Muromachi period. This weighty backstory made a lasting impression. So, when I was thinking of a title for this special feature on Zdeněk Burian, the master of paleoart, the names "Burian" and "Bogiwan" became intertwined in my mind. On closer inspection, they only share the "n" sound, but they somehow sounded similar... To put Mr. Burian and a monster side by side is an unforgivable offense, but I inadvertently decided on "Burian ga Kuru." Yes, that's right. The "original drawings" of the great master Zdeněk Burian will be "coming" next year.

 

Although it's still in the planning stages, such an exhibition will be held.

 

Special Exhibition "Dinosaur Encyclopedia - Imagination/Creation of a Lost World" (tentative title)

Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, March 4, 2023 - May 14, 2023

*Scheduled to tour Tokyo afterwards.

 

From valuable 19th-century paleoart (including an oil painting version of the "Ancient Dorset" lithograph introduced in New Treasury Vol.60 Lyme Regis edition, and works by Hawkins of the Crystal Palace!) to the tear-inducing Burian, Charles R. Knight, Neave Parker, and even post-Renaissance artists like Doug Henderson, Gregory S. Paul, and Stephen Czerkas, an array of "original drawings" that would blind you if you stared directly at them... This is truly amazing.

Among them, Burian holds a special place in my heart. In "Bogiwan," the protagonist (who appears in the first person but is then shockingly eaten by Bogiwan halfway through) becomes traumatized by Bogiwan during childhood. Similarly, Burian's art is a comforting "trauma" for me to this day (New Treasury Vol.10).

I never thought I would see Burian's original drawings in my lifetime. What's more, my own collection will be participating in a corner of this special exhibition. Nothing could make me happier. It proves that my life as a collector has been worthwhile.

 

So, this time it's a "Burian Festival."

 

First, I've gathered Burian's art books published in Japan.

 

"Genshoku Zenseiki no Seibutsu" (Color Illustrations of Prehistoric Life) (1962, Iwasaki Shoten)

This is the origin of my dinosaur life. The paleo-commentary is by Augusta. The layout of one artwork per page exudes the feel of an art book.

"Zukan Jinrui Izen" (Illustrated Book: Before Man) (1974, Tokuma Shoten)

The commentary is by Zdeněk Špinar. Some drawings are shared with "Zenseiki," but many prehistoric creatures have been redrawn. The illustrations are cropped.

"Jinrui, Sono Tanjo Made" (Mankind, Until Its Birth) (1978, Yugakusha)

The text is by Josef J. Kleibl. Since it only features humans, it's not really a target for my collection, but I couldn't resist buying it because it's Burian.

"Kaseki ga Kataru Taiko no Chikyu" (Fossils Tell of Ancient Earth) (1986, Yugakusha)

This book includes works not seen elsewhere, such as a self-portrait depicting an Iguanodon.

"3.5 Oku Nen Seimei no Rekishi - Burian no Koseibutsu Zukan" (3.5 Billion Years: History of Life - Burian's Paleoart Encyclopedia) (1993, Kaisei-sha)

Authored by Satoshi Kako.

It is said that the original drawings were photographed in Czechoslovakia and the latest printing technology of the time was used.

 

*Although I didn't actively look for human-related works, a pamphlet announcing the upcoming publication of "Human Ancestors" was tucked into "Genshoku Zenseiki no Seibutsu." I can't confirm whether it was actually published. Also, in 1982, "Zusetsu Genshi Jinrui" (Illustrated Primitive Man) was published by Keigakusha.

 

And then there's the smaller pamphlet titled "Dinosaur Mysteries," which is for the "Burian & Britche Dinosaur Museum." This dinosaur museum was a facility that opened in 1980 at the former UNESCO Village in Tokorozawa. Speaking of UNESCO Village, I remember the "Great Dinosaur Expedition Museum," which opened in 1993 and lasted until 2006, but its predecessor, the "Burian & Britche Dinosaur Museum," was quite unassuming. I went there once, but I recall it only having about ten photographic panels of Burian's works and some incomprehensible artistic dinosaurs, with no dinosaur fossils or models. I remember being disappointed. Unfortunately, the pamphlet is now at the Gunma Natural History Museum, so I can't check its contents. However, it's worth noting that there was once a dinosaur museum, even if it only featured photo panels, that centered around Burian's works.

 

Image 2 shows a set of postcards sold at the Buriburi Dinosaur Museum. I obtained this through Yahoo! Auctions, but it's possible that something I bought as a souvenir back then is still sleeping somewhere in my room.

 

Burian Spot-the-Difference

Look at the following images and find the differences.

https://ameblo.jp/azurin88/entry-12473430459.html

https://www.donglutsdinosaurs.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Burian-postcard.jpg

 

It's surprisingly obvious at a glance, but in this famous painting of a Tyrannosaurus and Trachodon, the tail that was curving in "PREHISTORIC ANIMALS" (the original book of "Zenseiki no Seibutsu," 1961) is straight in "Life Before Man" (the original book of "Jinrui Izen," 1972). It was probably revised to incorporate new theories of the time. If you look closely, you can still faintly see traces where the drawing was erased. In "Zenseiki," the Mesosaurus was chasing fish, but in "Jinrui Izen," its prey has been removed. Although the Mesosaurus is now believed to have eaten small crustaceans and plankton, did the theory of it eating fish already fall out of favor in the early 1970s?

Furthermore, in the 4th edition (1977) of "Life Before Man," the famous underwater Brachiosaurus painting was replaced with a terrestrial Brachiosaurus, and many other dinosaur paintings, such as Barosaurus, Gallimimus, and Chasmosaurus, were added, depicting them without dragging their tails. Burian, who passed away in 1981, remained active throughout his life.

 

Pseudo-Japanese Burian

From the 1960s to the 1970s, dinosaur illustrations in Japanese encyclopedias and boys' magazines were largely blatant copies, or at least heavily influenced by, Burian (or Knight). The leading figure in that field is painter Masaru Shimizu, but for his works, please refer to New Treasury Vol.47. Here, I'd like to introduce "Seibutsu no Rekishi" (Kodansha, 1966), an encyclopedia filled entirely with Burian copies.

 

Each drawing has subtle alterations, and the arrangement of animals has changed. The Tyrannosaurus in the Trachodon drawing shown in the spot-the-difference seems to be distracted by the Ornithomimus, but the perspective is off, making it appear quite shrunken. The Mesosaurus next to it is in monochrome, but the underwater scene is intricately drawn, and it even holds an ammonite in its mouth. However, this illustration was actually meant to accompany an explanation of an ammonite with Mosasaur bite marks. Sadly, the artist of this drawing seems to have mistaken a Mosasaur for a Mesosaurus. While "Mosa" and "Meso" sound similar when transliterated, it's an irredeemable error.

The bottom left shows Gorgosaurus and Scolosaurus, an illustration also used on the back cover of "Genshoku Zenseiki no Seibutsu." I believe this illustration is the root cause of the prevailing notion in boys' dinosaur books of the time that "Gorgosaurus was heavy, stooped, and slow-moving." However, the cover of the "Kagaku Taikan" next to it is surprisingly a colored version of that very illustration. I've owned this book since before I knew about Burian, so I'm imprinted with this colored version (New Treasury Vol.10). To its right is the cover of "Toppan no Kodomo Ehon: Kyoryu" (Toppan's Children's Picture Book: Dinosaurs), a work by Masaru Shimizu, the true master of pseudo-Japanese Burian. While he made his own arrangements to the Gorgosaurus's face, the Scolosaurus's orientation, and the background, his overflowing love for Burian is undeniable.

※ "Seibutsu no Rekishi - Gakushu Me de Miru Kagaku 3" (History of Life - Learning: Science Through the Eyes 3)

Kodansha 1966 p50/p64/p59/p53/p52/p57/p58

 

3D Burian

Burian's dinosaur drawings have had a tremendous influence on the world of dinosaur models. I've placed some of them in Burian's world.

 

Top left is an early Kaiyodo garage kit, a Trachodon sculpted by Shinichi Yamashita (Treasury Vol.62). It's in a similar looking-back pose to the cover of "PREHISTORIC ANIMALS." In its line of sight is Shinobu Matsumura's extremely rare Burian Tyrannosaurus (a very limited number were sold at a mineral show). The middle row features PYRO plastic models from the late 1960s: Corythosaurus and Protoceratops. They strongly resemble Burian's work; if you want to compare them to the original drawings, you can find them here.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/timetravelnow/5478334092/in/photostream/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/timetravelnow/5478351850/in/photostream/

 

The lower section shows a garage kit from Luna Models already featured in Treasure House Vol.18 and New Treasure House Vol.49. This is the first time I've photographed it from an angle close to Briand's illustrations. To its right is a soft vinyl model by Kaiyodo, released in 2018, sculpted by Shinzen (Nobuyoshi Takeuchi) (also appeared in Treasure House Vol.64). It is introduced on Kaiyodo's website as follows.

It certainly has the Briand color, but since it's a modern Tyrannosaurus to begin with, the Godzilla stance is forced and a bit disappointing...

 

Now, on to a different topic: the old books I've acquired. Over the past two months, I've impulsively bought a lot of old dinosaur books as if possessed.

It cost me money, but the harvest was great. Let me show them off right away.

 

First, an update on "Prehistoric Boy Sapin." I hesitated, but ended up buying two issues of Shogaku Gonensei (Fifth Grade Primary School Student) from December 1955 and February 1956, which contain the stories before and after the 34th episode I introduced last time.

 

Sapin and Yukime encounter a Stegosaurus and a Ceratosaurus attacking it. Then, an Ornitholestes appears, hopping around. After narrowly escaping, Sapin encounters a Triceratops emerging from a pond, leading into episode 34.

The two eat a Brontosaurus egg and are chased by an angry Brontosaurus. They manage to reach and climb a cliff, but then an Atlantosaurus appears. After escaping that danger, Sapin and friends reach a cliff by the sea and try to descend, but then a Pterodactyl appears... to be continued. There are only 4 more installments left. Will the two be able to return home?

※ "Shogaku 5-nensei" Shogakukan

December 1956 issue, p43-p50

February 1957 issue, p315-p322

 

And now, I have in my hands "Animal Evolution" and "Principles of Evolution," which I mentioned as online information after listing the works of Professor Matashiro Yokoyama in New Treasure House Vol.6. "Animal Evolution" is included in a reprint (published in 1967) of "Meiji Bunka Zenshu: Kagaku-hen" (Complete Collection of Meiji Culture: Science Edition) published in 1930, so I can grasp the original content. And "Principles of Evolution" is unmistakably a treasure published in Meiji 22 (1889). Let's start with this one.

 

"Principles of Evolution" Meiji 22 (1889) Maruzen Shosha. Lectures by Thomas Huxley, translated by Shuji Izawa.

 

As I wrote in New Treasure House Vol.6, since it's a complete translation of "On the Origin of Species" published in Meiji 12 (1879), I assume both have the same illustrations, but I was surprised that they are much clearer than the images in the National Diet Library Digital Collection I linked before. The delicate white skeletons encased in black biological outlines of the feathered-finger snake, fish-snake, and lizard-snake are almost like Gregory S. Paul a hundred years ahead of his time!

 

"Animal Evolution" Meiji 16 (1883) Bankenshoro Zabpan, narrated by Edward S. Morse, recorded by Chiyomatsu Ishikawa.

*Meiji Bunka Zenshu was published by Nippon Hyoron-sha.

 

The skeletal diagram of the Archaeopteryx London specimen is accompanied by a reconstructed drawing of the head (though only part of the upper jaw remains on the negative, the Berlin specimen had not yet been found at this point, so it is purely speculative) that is missing from the London specimen. The evolutionary tree also has a deep flavor.

Various paleological names appear, but the following passage is interesting.

【Scholars such as "Huxley" and "Cope" have produced "Dinosauruses" from ancient times that possess characteristics of both reptiles and birds.】

At that time, many scholars, including Thomas Huxley, advocated the theory of avian descent from dinosaurs. It was not until 1926 that Heilmann raised the issue of the clavicle, and the theory of separate lineages for birds and dinosaurs became the established theory.

 

Finally, I'd like to introduce a major discovery that I believe could shake up the history of dinosaurs in Japan.

 

I accidentally discovered a book on a used bookstore website that contained eye-catching dinosaur photos. I bought it immediately.

 

"Peace Memorial Tokyo Exposition Photo Album" Taisho 11 (1922) Ikubunsha Publishing Department

 

This is a photo album introducing the exhibition held in Ueno Park in the same year, and this is one of the photos. It is titled "Monster Model from Kawasaki Factory" and explained as "The purpose of the exhibition is to prove the durability of concrete." When thinking of concrete dinosaurs, the dinosaur statues still existing at Higashiyama Zoo (now a botanical garden and zoo) in Nagoya come to mind, but the Higashiyama dinosaur statues were made 16 years later, in Showa 13 (1938). Is there any connection between the two?

The photo caption reads [Kawasaki Factory's Stegosaurus and Monocerosaurus]. This could possibly be the oldest dinosaur statue in Japan.

 

And then, I thought the design looked familiar, and it turned out to be identical to the illustration on the "Boy's Museum Card" supplement of "Shonen Kurabu" (Boy's Club) published in Showa 5 (1930) (see New Treasure House Vol.44). (The card's caption was "Stegosaurus Mother and Child"... they must have thought it was breastfeeding, which is a terrible misunderstanding.) I traced the common ancestor of this illustration and the Tokyo Exposition Stegosaurus online, and arrived here:

https://www.deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de/item/3CCF5CSSC5GVY3XQ66CXJ6LBIGNZ5KAS

https://blog.bella-fotografia.de/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Hagenbecks-Tierpark-245-Kopie.jpg

It seems to have been designed by a person named Josef Pallenberg at Hagenbeck Zoo in Hamburg, Germany in 1908... and the dinosaur statues at Higashiyama Zoo were based on the exhibits at this zoo.

 

With this, the Tokyo Exposition and Higashiyama Zoo dinosaurs are now happily connected.

 

Jazz Live Stream Announcement

 

I know you might have forgotten, but I am a jazz pianist. So, on April 21st, I will be streaming a live performance, and this time I will be performing on the theme of dinosaurs. Hiedeko Kimura, the other keyboard player in this unit, is also a fellow dinosaur club member. She is a wonderful person who has composed many original songs with dinosaur names. I am thinking of various things, such as showing off figures and fossils that match these songs between performances. I think it will be a rich and varied event. Please do watch it. For 2000 yen, you can watch it as many times as you like for about two weeks after the live performance.

You can purchase tickets on this website.

https://umemotomusica.stores.jp/items/622ea3739a70627ba5554ae5

 

The reason the unit is named "Keyboard(s)aurus" is, to borrow the words of Kaiyodo's managing director, "It's more 'Gundam' than 'Kandam'" (Treasure House Vol.46).