More On Bernard Heuvelmans: A Rebel of Science
Posted by: Loren Coleman on June 6th, 2007
The following is Elsanto’s translation from French to English of the back cover and table of contents of the new biography Bernard Heuvelmans: A Rebel of Science by Jean Jacques Barloy.
Back Cover
The name Bernard Heuvelmans is associated worldwide with cryptozoology – the science which he founded and which is generally defined as the science of unknown, mysterious, unidentified animals: the Loch Ness monster, sea serpents, the abominable snowman, the giant octopus (could be a reference to the kraken… unsure), and dinosaurs and mammoths yet living…
The books of Bernard Heuvelmans have inspired legions of readers of all ages. Then in 1968, there was a discovery which could have – which ought to have – revolutionized science, philosophy and religion: that of an actual humanoid of a species different from our own!
However, Bernard Heuvelmans was not only the father of cryptozoology. He published remarkable works in various scientific fields, held a passion for jazz (he was a recognized singer), wrote in Planète, and collaborated with Hergé. In reading his biographie, we’ll discover surprising universes (could be an abstract usage, here), notably the Island of Levant, where he spent many months each year.
This is the life of a man who went constantly beyond norms, beyond fashions, beyond the beaten paths.
With a preface by Alika Lindbergh, who was, for half a century, at Heuvelmans’ side. An immensely talented painter, she is the creator of the painting that decorates the cover of this work.
About the author: Jean-Jacques Barloy, PhD in science, zoologist and cryptozoologist, is a friend and long-time student of Bernard Heuvelmans who was selected by Heuvelmans himself to write this biography.
Table of Contents
Preface by Alika Lindbergh ………………………………………………………………11
Foreword ………………………………………………………………………………….17
I. Between Fallacies and Dunes…………………………………………………………. 19
II. A Prince of the Renaissance ……………………………………………………………29
III. A fairy and a Paradise …………………………………………………………………47
IV. The Thunderclap of 1955 …………………………………………………………….59
V. The Sea Serpent Unmasked ……………………………………………………………81
VI. African Flavours ………………………………………………………………………87
VII. At hand: The Discovery of the Century ……………………………………………..93
VIII. A Hermitage Retreat in Périgord …………………………………………………..109
IX. Between Accolades and Bitterness ………………………………… ………………..119
X. The Fault of Having Been Right too Early ………………………… …………………139
Afterword by Benoit Grison …………………………………………… ……………….143
Appendices
1. Journals and Magazines to which Bernard Heuvelmans contributed ………………151
2. Species named (scientifically) by Bernard Heuvelmans ……………………………153
3. Article from Voilà, July 1944, dedicated to Bernard Heuvelmans …………………155
4. Extracts from the famous letter dated December 18, 1968 sent to Alika Lindbergh at the very moment of having examined the specimen and the two letters addressed from Bernard Heuvelmans to Jean-Jacques Barloy about the pongoid hominid in 1969 and 1970 (I believe this is in reference to the Minnesota Iceman)………157
5. An Important Book about the Fantastic Life of Animals by Bernard Heuvelmans…………………….165
6. Painting – The Work of Alika Lindbergh or Dreamy Realism by Bernard Heuvelmans………………………167
7. Monsters or The Metamorphosis of Unknown Animals into Mythical Beasts and of Mythical Beasts into Known Animals by Bernard Heuvelmans ……………………169
8. A Bernard Heuvelmans Bibliography, compiled by Fabrice Tortey ……………….183
Index …………………………………………………………………………………….195
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Wow – impressive book! Wish it was available en Englais.
Thanks, Elsanto, for your translation work.
Fuzzy,
Thanks, it’s been a fun and interesting challenge, translating the next one’s going to be trickier as it’s Heuvelmans himself writing it.
We can hope that it’ll be translated one day. Those appendices alone are a goldmine!
elsanto, Merci Beaucoup bon ami.
I read Heuvelmans’ ON THE TRACK OF UNKNOWN ANIMALS when I was young and I was enchanted. I read it many times over.
I read other books and articles by Heuvelmans over the years. I never found in his writings any meaningful mentions of the Loch Ness mystery or of the Northwest American Bigfoot. Did he find these proposed cryptids too unbelivable or just overreported?
Keep looking. Heuvelmans did mention both Loch Ness and Bigfoot in his writings. But I think it would spoil the fun to tell exactly where.