Natural histories Extraordinary rare book selections from the American Museum of Natural History Library

Editor Baione (research library, American Museum of Natural History) selected 40 illustrated works covering the subjects of anthropology, paleontology, earth science, astronomy, and zoology, and ranging in date from 16th-century zoologies to 20th-century works. He invited scientists, librarians, and associates of the museum to contribute short essays on the importance and effect of the works, authors, and/or illustrations. The result is a beautiful boxed set that includes a softcover book of essays and illustrations and 40 loose plates housed in an illustrated clamshell box. The plates are frame-worthy copies of some of the illustrations used in the essay volume. The writing style is directed to a general reading audience, and is appropriate for undergraduates looking for introductory information. The short essays are informative and excite interest in further study. This is an interesting bibliographic work, which is more focused on the art than on the science of natural history. The boxed-set format may cause concern for open stack libraries, since the loose art prints are packaged with a book in a box with no closure. Summing Up: Recommended. Especially public libraries serving general readers; lower-division undergraduates. C. E. Whitaker University of South Carolina

Digging deep into the American Museum of Natural History's Research Museum (of which he is the director), Baione and assorted essayists offer up a truly stunning collection of rare prints covering a litany of topics. Whether readers choose to focus on the 40 prints just begging for frames that are included in the box or the often breathtaking images in the book itself, they'll quickly find themselves sucked into this fantastically assembled and informative work of natural and human history. The essays focus primarily on the work of pioneering illustrators and their areas of interest (mollusks, fish, birds, Native Americans, Egyptology), offering exponential insight into the intricacies of plumage, biology, and etymology. Each profile is equal parts text and images, making for an immersive experience. The essays are brief-short biographies allowing for little more than a timeline and quick summation of key works or scientific contributions. But armchair naturalists, archeologists, and anthropologists will have a field day with this lovingly curated collection. Remarkable for its editing as well as its breadth of scope (even the binding of Victorian natural history books is studied), this gem of a book is one of the best in its class. (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.