Burland, C(ottie) A(rthur) (1905-1983)

Ethnographer, author, and authority on mythology in relation to the occult. He was born September 17, 1905, in Kensington, London, and studied at Regent Street Polytechnic. Except for his time of service in the Royal Air Force during World War II, he served for 40 years as a civil servant in the Department of Ethnography, British Museum, London (1925-65). He was a fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute and a member of the Société de Americanistes de Paris, the British Society of Aesthetics, and the Folk-Lore Society (London). In 1965 he received the Imago Mundi Award.

Burland authored numerous books about ancient civilizations and primitive people, notably on the peoples of the ancient Americas—the Mayans, Incas, and Aztecs. His studies in these areas were of special importance, since the Incas had no written language, while the Mayan language was virtually obliterated by the destruction of Aztec manuscripts by early Spanish missionaries.

His studies led him into the study of magical practice among pre-industrial peoples, his 1953 Magic Books from Mexico being a first product of this interest. He later produced a series of books on magic in general including The Magical Arts: A Short History (1966), The Arts of the Alchemists (1967; 1968), Beyond Science: A Journey into the Supernatural (1972), Echoes of Magic: A Study of Seasonal Festivals Through the Ages (1972), and Secrets of the Occult (1972). He was a member of the editorial board of the comprehensive encyclopedia Man, Myth, and Magic (1970).