Rare, antiquarian, used & out-of-print books on William Beebe at Horizon Books.
BEEBE, C. William; The Log of the Sun; a Chronicle of Nature's Year. New York, Henry Holt and Company, 1906, First Edition, 8vo [25.5 x 19 cm]; xii, 345 pp, color frontis, tissue guard, plus 51 color plates, many other illus, including from photos and drawings, bibliog, index, original elaborate pictorial gilt cloth, all edges gilted, gilt title lettering on spine and cover, internal hinge with old repair, a remarkably fine and clean copy, covers unworn, bright, pristine, interior is clean and fresh, crisp.
Berra 3. Beebe's third book and one of his most interesting. The 52 full-page illustrations are from paintings by Walter King Stone. A most attractive copy, beautifully illustrated.
US$150. bookID # 12244
BEEBE, C. William; Two Bird-Lovers in Mexico. Boston and New York, Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1905, First Edition, 8vo [21.5 x 15 cm]; xiii, 408, [viii, ads] pp, frontis with tissue guard, title vignette, numerous illus from photos taken from life by author, index, orig pictorial cloth with picture in green, brown, white and gilt sky, gilt lettering on cover and spine, top edge gilted, gilt title lettering on spine , cover, author's name in gilt, lightly rubbed, old signature on endpaper, very good, interior clean.
Berra I. Beebe's first published book, dedicated to his wife, the other bird-lover. It deals with all aspects of natural history, based on his extensive travels in Mexico, including birds, animals, insects, plants, and deservedly began his career as a natural history writer. Cole 37: 'The author spent the winter of 1903-4 camping with his wife in the mountains of southwestern Mexico'. The appendix is a lengthy list of birds observed. "What a glorious thing is a cold plunge in early morning in the swift-flowing river near the tent, where the night before the deer drank, and along which all the furtive wild creatures of the night stealthily made their way in the moonlight. Here one feels how good a thing it is to be alive, to be hungry and to eat, to be weary and to sleep." [from the book].
US$120. bookID # 11505
BEEBE, William; Beneath Tropic Seas, a Record of Diving Among the Coral Reefs of Haiti. New York, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1928, First edition, 8vo [22.5 x 16 cm]; xiii, 234 pp, color frontis, full page illus from photos, pictorial endpapers, index, orig green cloth, gilt title lettering on spine and cover, spine lightly faded but lettering clear, endpaper inscription, interior is clean and fine.
Berra XIV. Highlights of the tenth expedition of the Department of Tropical Research of the New York Zoological Society that studied the coral reefs and fishes in the bay of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The appendices include the outfit of the Haitian expedition, methods in submarine photography by John Tee-Van, list of Haitian birds observed, list of fish species collected, translation of 'The Larva of the East Indian Tarpon'.
US$25. bookID # 11992
BEEBE, William; Nonsuch; Land of Water. New York, Brewer, Warren & Putnam, 1932, First Edition, 8vo [23 x 15 cm]; xv, 259pp, col frontis, illus (most full-page), photo endpapers, orig cloth, gilt title lettering on front cover and spine, dj (worn, chipped at edges), very good clean copy in worn dj, signed by author on half title page.
Berra 15. This book deals with life in the waters, marine biology, around Nonsuch, Bermuda and was carried out when he was Director of the Department of Tropical Research of the New York Zoological Society
US$80. bookID # 7891
BEEBE, William; The Arcturus Adventure; an Account of the New York Zoological Society's First Oceanographic Expedition. New York and London, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1926, First edition, first printing, 8vo [24 x 16 cm]; xix, 439 pp, colored frontis, 8 color plates, plus 69 other illus, pictorial endpapers, orig cloth, gilt lettering on front cover and spine, top edge gilted, very slight shelf wear, fine and clean copy, unmarked.
Bera XI. A well-produced & well-illustrated description of this expedition, which has become a classic of oceanographic exploration. It covered over 13,600 miles touching at Norfolk, Bermuda, Panama, Cocos Island and the Galapagos. It investigated the Sargasso Sea and the Humboldt Current and collected numerous natural history objects. The book includes the detailed ship's log and an appendix on the fauna of Osborn Island with a list of birds.
US$50. bookID # 12243
BEEBE, William; Zaca Venture. New York, Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1938, First Edition, 8vo [22 x 15 cm]; xvi, 308 pp, frontis, plus 23 illus incl map, appendices, index, orig cloth, dampstain in lower and some outer margins of many pages, else very good, with the inside flap of the jacket on blank endpaper.
Berra 19. Scientific expedition around Baja California to explore marine life, which resulted in numerous publications on marine biology listed in appendix. Much is on fishes including the whale shark. The dust jacket shows interesting art on front and photo of expedition tracking whale shark on rear panel.
US$12. bookID # 7738
BEEBE, William, G. Inness Hartley, Paul G. Howes, introduction by Colonel Theodore Roosevelt; Tropical Wild Life in British Guiana; Zoological Contributions From the Tropical Research Station of the New York Zoological Society. New York, New York Zoological Society, 1917, First Edition, 8vo [24 x 17 cm]; xx, [ii], [23]-504 pp, frontis, 143 illustrations, including 4 color plates, maps, index, original pictorial gilt cloth, light cloth rippling, light shelf wear, very good clean copy, internally fine.
Ferra V. This is marked volume I but there were never other volumes produced. Beebe became world famous for his record breaking descent into the depths of the sea in the bathysphere in the 1930's. He was an accomplished naturalist but was also an ornithologist, entomologist, ichthyologist, ecologist and taxonomist as this volume clearly illustrates. There is also a chapter on Indian Charms by James Rodway.
US$130. bookID # 6304
PORTER, Eliot (photographs), Kenneth Brower, introductions by Loren Eisely and John P. Milton; Galapagos; The Flow of Wildness. San Francisco, New York, London, Sierra Club, nd [1968], First Edition, folio [36 x 28 cm]; 2 volumes, 171; 187 pp, 138 fine color plates, bibliog., pict endpapers, orig cloth, gilt lettering, dj's (short tear, price clipped), fine set in original gilt-stamped cloth slipcase (which is lightly rubbed at corners).
Volume one focuses on the discovery and early visitors including Herman Melville, Charles Darwin, Joseph Slevin and William Beebe. Volume two is based on Porter's journal as he explores these islands. A magnificent production with superb photos by Porter, who is considered the premier nature photographer of the 20th century.
US$100. bookID # 10374
ROULE, Louis, introduction by William Beebe; Fishes, Their Journeys and Migrations. New York, W. W. Norton & Company, [1933], First edition, 8vo [24 x 15 cm]; xii, 270 pp, 54 illus from drwgs, orig pictorial cloth, title lettering on spine and cover, pictorial endpapers, light damp-stain in lower margins of some pages, very good.
The author has put the sum of present day knowledge of fish travels and migrations into the book. He has 'put this into understandable language and his brought out all the mystery, the drama, the amazing actions, many of them still unexplained, which accompany this phase of the lives of fish' (William Beebe).
US$10. bookID # 12335
ZAHL, Paul A., foreword by Joseph Wood Krutch; Coro-Coro; The World of the Scarlet Ibis. New York, The Bobbs-Merrill Company, [1954], First edition, 8vo [24 x 16 cm]; xvi, [17] - 264 pp, color frontis, 42 illus from photos, map, bibliog, orig green cloth, dj (a little worn at edge, price clipped), very good+.
William Beebe describes the book as "an excellent book of travel and adventure for a bird - the Scarlet Ibis. This serves as a background for side glimpses of the evolution of the flooded Venezuelan Ilanos, their slime and scum, vegetation, insects, fish, reptiles and not least the human inhabitants of this world." Travels in the State of Apure in Venezuela to find the Scarlet Ibis, which hadn't been seen for 30 years. "The zest and suspense of a detective story" (Robert Cushman Murphy)
US$20. bookID # 6007
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