Man, Myth & Magic: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Mythology, Religion and the Unknown Series

Includes all the major (and many of the minor) faiths, philosophies, legends, mythologies and folklore, as well as literature, symbolism, superstition and the supernatural.
"Man, Myth and Magic: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Supernatural," (24-Vol. Set) Hardcover – June, 1970, by Richard Cavendish (Author).
This twenty-four volume set is really a full encyclopedia addressing cutting edge paranormal and comparative religious topics literally from A to Z.

The television commercial for it can be found on Youtube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zt1ZE6_BYvg.

The official description of the encyclopedic set is found here: "Man, Myth & Magic: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Supernatural is an encyclopedia of the supernatural, including magic, mythology and religion. It was edited by Richard Cavendish. The art director was Brian Innes, former percussionist of The Temperance Seven.

Man, Myth & Magic was originally published as a British weekly magazine by BPC Publishing, Ltd.. The printer was Purnell & Sons. Leeds. Publication commenced in 1970, and continued for 112 issues spanning 1,000 articles with some 5,000 illustrations, many of them in full colour. Purnell also sold binders for gathering the installments into seven volumes, plus one additional binder for the magazine covers.

In 1970 BPC Publishing Ltd put out a very popular hardcover set condensing all 112 magazines into a 24 volume set. It was reprinted as a 21 volume revised edition by Marshall Cavendish in 1995 (ISBN 9781854357311). The material has been sold to Cavendish Square Publishing, which has published ten volumes of the material reorganized into books according to subject, including Witches and Witchcraft as well as Beliefs, Rituals, and Symbols of Ancient Greece and Rome.
More than two hundred academics and specialists contributed to the magazine, and wrote in a generally accessible style.

The editorial board consisted of:

Glyn Daniel, archaeologist and editor of 'Antiquity'.
E. R. Dodds, former Regius Professor of Greek at Oxford.
Mircea Eliade, professor of the History of Religion at University of Chicago.
William Sargant, past Physician in Charge of the Department of Psychological Medicine, St. Thomas' Hospital.
John Symonds, author and literary executor of Aleister Crowley.
R. J. Zwi Werblowsky, professor of Comparative Religion, Dean of Faculty of Humanities, Hebrew University, Jerusalem.
Robert Charles Zaehner, Spalding Professor of Eastern Religion and Ethics, Oxford.
Cottie Arthur Burland, formerly of the Department of Ethnography at the British Museum."

Suffice to say that this encyclopedia is quite comprehensive at 3376 pages to include a comprehensive index and many special features. Volume 1 for example addresses the following topics in the contents of 156 pages: Introduction; Aberdeen Witches; Abominable Snowman; Abracadabra; Achilles; Acupuncture; Africa; Agrippa; Ahriman; Aix-En-Provence Nuns; Alchemy; Alexander The Great; Algonquin Indians; All Hallows' Eve; Alphabet; Altar; Amazons; Amida; Anadamayl Ma; Angels; Animals; Animism; St. Anthony; Antichrist; Aphrodite; Apollo; Apollonius; Apple; Aquarius; Aries; Armies; Arrow; Art; Arthur; Ash; Ashanti; Ashes; Asmodeus; Astarte; Astral Body; Astrology.

I just recently purchased this set again after having read through it so many decades in the past. It is the 1970 BPC Publishing Ltd. edition which was printed in Italy with the Library of Congress Catalog No. 70-141143. The bindings are tight and pages are of a high quality non-acidic meaning no foxing or really noticeable deterioration of the volumes. This set really does represent a superb resource to the paranormal, strange, weird, and eerie topics out there. Five stars.

Product details

Series: Man, Myth & Magic
Hardcover: 154 pages (Each of the volumes)
Volume: 21, Version 1997
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish Corp. (1997)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 185435731X

Version 1997. Complete collection of 21 Volumes. + 1 Volume 1970