Rare, antiquarian, used & out-of-print books on Reptiles, Snakes at Horizon Books.
CHRISTY, Cuthbert; Big Game and Pygmies; Experiences of a Naturalist in Central African Forests in Quest of the Okapi. London, Macmillan and Co., 1924, First edition, 8vo [22 x 14.5 cm]; xxxi, 313 pp, frontis, 122 illustrations from photos on plates, folding colored map (short tear at stub), index, original blue pictorial gilt cloth, gilt title lettering on spine and front cover, edges rubbed, neat tape repair in margin of page 195, front hinge cracking but firm, small chip on rear cover, clean very good copy.
The introductory chapter is by Sir Harry H. Johnston, who provides a good historica perspective and some interesting comments on the natural history of Central Africa. 'Dr Christy has been a persistent and successful hunter but it has been mainly in the cause of science. The Belgian museums, the British and perchance the Americans have been the richer for his prowess'. The author travelled extensively in the region over a 25 year period and describes the Ituri Forest of the Congo in detail in this work with much on the Ituri Pygmies, the Okapi, elephants, rhinoceros, buffalo, the forest hog, chimpanzee, the Bongo, the aardvark and ant-eaters, birds, insects, fish, reptiles, frogs, forest hunting and armament, the poisoned arrow gun, etc.
US$160. bookID # 8478
DALTON, Henry G.; The History of British Guiana Comprising a General Description of the Colony; a Narrative of Some of the Principal Events from the Earliest Period of its Discovery to the Present Time; with an Account of its Climate, Geology, Products, Natural History. London, Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans, 1855, First edition, 8vo [23 x 15 cm]; 2 volumes, xv, 518; vii, 580 pp, 6 engraved plates, frontis in each volume, engraved folding map, tables, index, with the half title pages (margin on one repaired), original blue blindstamped cloth, gilt spine title lettering, gilt cover decoration, expertly rebacked preserving cloth spine and boards, pictorial bookplate of Edwin Stanton Fickes on endpaper, slightly foxed on few leaves, near fine set.
Sabin 18350 refers to a copy with map and only 3 plates. Besides the history, the author describes immigration, the indigenous people, climate, religion, health of people, diseases, with much of volume II on the botany, animals, fish, reptiles, birds, mammals and other aspects of natural history. The plates include views, portraits of natives, huts, etc. There is considerable statistics in a large appendix on crops, demographics, purchases of plantations, race, education, etc.
US$500. bookID # 12950
EMORY, William H.; Report on the United States and Mexican Boundary Survey, made under the Direction of the Secretary of the Interior [complete set]. Washington, printed by AOP Nicholson, Cornelius Wendell, 1857-59, First edition, mixed Senate and House documents, 4to [29.5 x 24 cm]; 4 parts in 3 volumes, xvi, 258; viii, 174; 62, 35, 32, 85, ii; 270; 78 pp, 347 plates including 25 hand colored of birds, 12 colored of views & native peoples, 3 large folding maps (1 colored with 4 inch tear), 2 other maps/charts, mixed cloth bindings, including original cloth, 2 volumes in rebound cloth, cover wear, minor foxing on few leaves, mostly marginal, stain in margin of one title page, one volume with library stamp on cover & title, interiors very good, sound set.
This is one of the first scientific explorations of the area including its natural history, botany, geography, geology. The boundary delineated by Emory as described in this work demonstrates his competence and skill since it remains largely unchanged today. A cornerstone work on the exploration and mapping of the US southwest and the Texas-Mexican border. Besides Emory's reports, there are scientific reports by James Hall, T.A. Conrad, Spencer F. Baird, Charles Girard, C. C. Parry, George Engelmann, etc. George Merrill, 1906, History of American Geology, p. 461: 'This has the distinction of being the earliest coloured geological map of the region published by the Government. It is, moreover, of historical interest as showing how little was definitely known of the region.' Dobie 86: 'Emory's great two volume report is, aside from descriptions of borderlands and their inhabitants, a veritable encyclopedia, wonderfully illustrated, on western flora and fauna.' The plates include views, geology, mammals, fish, birds, reptiles, botany, cacti, costume plates of native people, etc. Only 3,000 copies of volume two were printed, making complete sets uncommon. Jenkins 57. Howes 3312. Wheat 916, 917,918, 919. Wagner/Camp 291. Reese 31. A complete set with all plates, numerous text illustrations, maps, including the large folding colored 'Map Illustrating the General Geological Features of the Country West of the Mississippi
US$1900. bookID # 13850
HANCOCK, Joseph Lane; Nature Sketches in Temperate America. Chicago, A. C. McClurg & Co, 1911, First Edition, 8vo [23 x 16 cm]; xviii, 451pp, color frontis of Troilus butterfly visiting the cardinal flower, 215 illus, plus 12 color plates, vignettes, index, original green cloth, gilt title lettering on spine and cover, bookplate and signature of Arthur Herbert Richardson on endpaper, one margin with tear, very good copy, clean throughout.
An attractively illustrated popular account of general ecology and natural history, with an emphasis on insects and plants and a little on reptiles. Covers evolution, adaptations in animals and plants, protective resemblance, mimicry, warning colors, animal behavior, etc.
US$9. bookID # 10837
HOWELLS, Victor; A Naturalist in Palestine. London, Andrew Melrose, 1956, First Edition, 8vo [21.5 x 14.5 cm]; 180 pp, illustrations from photos and full-page drawings by the author, map, bibliog, index, original cloth, dj (chipped, tear at edge, not price clipped), signature in pencil on endpaper, else clean, very good.
The author describes the insects, animals, reptiles, fish, flowers, scenery as well as Arab tales based on his travels in the area over a nine month period. The appendices include geography, climatic factors that influence animals, animal and bird migration.
US$6. bookID # 8999
HUMPHREYS, H. Noel; River Gardens; Being An Account of the Best Methods of Cultivating Fresh-Water Plants in Aquaria, in such a Manner as to Afford Suitable Abodes to Ornamental Fish and Many Interesting Kinds of Aquatic Animals. London, Sampson Low, Son and Co., 1857, First edition, first issue, 12mo [19 x 14 cm]; vii, 108, [iv, ads] pp, 8 fine hand-colored plates including frontis (complete), each with tissue guards, other illus, original blind-stamped cloth with gilt picture of water lily and title lettering on front cover, spine a little rubbed, tissue guard for frontis removed, otherwise a very good copy, interior is clean & fine with only slight foxing on few leaves.
Freeman 1834. Published near the start of the aquarium hobby, a little after Gosse published the first aquarium book in 1854, those interested would find their specimens at nearby ponds and rivers rather than from a store. The attractive illustrations include a glass circular aquarium, water lilies, aquatic plants, fish, sticklebacks and their nests, goldfish, snails and valisneria, aquatic reptiles, plants with frog, crayfish, water spider, etc.
US$200. bookID # 13069
LANSDELL, Henry; Chinese Central Asia; A Ride to Little Tibet. London, Sampson Low, Marston & Company, 1893, First edition, 8vo [22.5 x 15 cm]; 2 volumes, xl, 456, [iv, ads for author's other books incl. specimen page for Russian Central Asia]; xvi, 512 pp, 3 colored folding maps (expert repairs), 80 illustrations including full-page & double-page, bibliog, index, original pictorial cloth, rubbed, rebacked preserving original covers and most of spines, one spine faded, new endpapers, very good clean set preserved in custom cloth slipcase.
The author attempted to deliver a letter from the Archbishop of Canterbury to the Dali Lama in 1888 but failed to reach Lhasa. Instead he visited Leh, Samarkand, Tashkent, Bokhara, Kuldja, Kashgar, Yarkand, Khotan, Kashmir, etc. Yakushi L38. The appendix lists the mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and insects, especially lepidoptera (butterflies) that the author collected on his journey, as well as an extensive bibliography.
US$750. bookID # 7574
PICKEWELL, Gayle; Deserts. New York, Whittlesley House, McGraw-Hill Book Company, [1939], , 4to [29.5 x 23 cm]; xiv, 174 pp, 64 plates including color frontis and map, bibliog, index, original pictorial cloth, dj (chipped and with old tape repairs), presented to Francis Sheldon from the Arizona Desert School, a good clean sound copy in worn dj.
A good description of the birds, animals, reptiles, and plants in the American Southwest (Mohave, Sonoran, Colorado Deserts.
US$2. bookID # 5285
SHELFORD, Robert W. C.; A Naturalist in Borneo. New York, E. P. Dutton & Company, 1917, First American edition, 8vo [22 x 14.5 cm]; xxvii, [i], 331 pp, frontis (portrait) with tissue guard, 32 plates mostly from photos, tables, index, original blue cloth, gilt title lettering on spine and cover, lightly rubbed at edges, small endpaper signature, near fine, clean and unmarked.
Shelford, who was curator of the Sarawak Museum and with Oxford University Museum, was an entomologist by training, made expeditions into the interior of Borneo to study the head-hunting tribes and the natural history. The book contains detailed chapters on natural history, birds, insects, mimicry in nature, animal life of the shores, natives of Borneo, reptiles, etc. Very nicely illustrated, including of a head hunting expedition, buildings in Sarawack, Kuching. The work was edited from the manuscript & notes by Edward Poulton after Sheldon's early death due to a tropical disease.
US$160. bookID # 12842
STEADMAN, David W. and Steven Zousmer; Galapagos; Discovery on Darwin's Islands. Washington, Smithsonian Institution Press, [1988], First edition, 4to [28 x 22 cm]; 208 pp, 51 color plates from painting by Lee M. Steadman, other color illustrations from photo, bibliog, endpaper maps, original cloth (hardcover), dj, fine clean copy.
The author found over 400,000 fossils of extinct species on the Galapagos islands and presents some interesting findings related to evolution. The fine illustrations stand on their own merit. An appendix lists the resident species of reptiles, mammals, birds.
US$5. bookID # 7354
STRONG, Richard P. (editor); The African Republic of Liberia and the Belgian Congo; Based on the Observations Made and Material Collected During the Harvard African Expedition 1926 - 1927. Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1930, First Edition, 4to [27 x 20 cm]; 2 volumes, xxvi, 568; ix, 569 - 1064 pp, 476 illustrations (some color printed plates) text figures, 9 maps, orig crimson cloth, gilt lettering, dust jackets (rubbed, chipped with one having large section missing), else a fine clean set, with a presentation inscription on the author's card, signed by author to Horace Binney, paperclipped to title with rust mark.
A most interesting survey of Liberia and Belgian Congo related to medical and natural conditions. Much of the travel was by foot across Africa. The first volume deals mainly with social and medical conditions, and especially of the little known inhabitants of tribal Liberia and their living conditions but also covers geology, flora, zoology. The second volume is a comprehensive survey of the natural history, with emphasis on birds, mammal, insects and reptiles. Very well illustrated. Not often found with both dust jackets and author's signature. Strong, professor of tropical medicine at Harvard, was accompanied by other physicians and zoologists on the expedition. Conover 659.
US$170. bookID # 7714
TAYLOR, J. E.; The Aquarium; Its Inhabitants, Structure, and Management. London, Hardwicke & Bogue, 1876, First edition, 8vo [19 x 12.5 cm]; xv, 316, [iv, ads] pp, 239 illustrations including full-page, index, original pictorial gilt cloth, with gilt picture of aquarium and fishes, gilt lettering, all edges gilted, covers rubbed, old bookseller's blindstamp on endpaper, very good, interior is clean and unmarked.
Freeman 3658. The author describes the history of the aquarium in detail, fresh-water and marine aquariums, their construction and use, the inhabitants of the aquariums including fish, reptiles, plants, insects, zoophytes, etc, the aquarium as a nursery for the microscope. Very well-illustrated. The illustrated ads at the rear are for the author's other books. At the time, this was the ultimate aquaria book, at the peak of the aquarium hobby in the nineteenth century.
US$125. bookID # 13658
TENNENT, Sir J. Emerson; Sketches of the Natural History of Ceylon with Narratives and Anecdotes Illustrative of the Habits and Instincts of the Mammalia, Birds, Reptiles, Fishes, Insects, &c. including a Monograph of the Elephant. London, Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts, 1861, First edition, 8vo [20 x 13 cm]; xiii, [i], [errata leaf], 500, 24 [ads] pp, 10 plates including frontis, numerous other engraved illus, index, original pictorial gilt green cloth, gilt lettering and decoration on spine, little rubbed at edges, complete, very slight foxing on a few leaves, but clean and very good copy.
Catalogue of the British Museum Natural History p. 2084. Casey Wood 594. This is a major expansion of the author's earlier general work on Ceylon, covering all animals, birds, etc, with some emphasis on the elephant. There are two lists of birds, one of the birds of Ceylon, and the other of those peculiar to Ceylon, as well as lists of insects species, shells, leeches, etc. This copy has the additional errata sheet not found in all copies, after the first errata sheet.
US$200. bookID # 11780
TRISTRAM, H. B. [Henry Baker]; The Great Sahara: Wanderings South of the Atlas Mountains. London, John Murray, 1860, First edition, 8vo [21 x 14 cm]; xiv, [i, list of illus], 435, 32 [publisher's ads dated Dec. 1860] pp, complete with 11 plates including frontis of Oasis of El Kantara, 2 folding colored maps including large one at end (short tear), other illus, title page vignette, orig pictorial gilt cloth, gilt spine title lettering, part of spine cloth is lightened, bookplate removed from endpaper, internal hinge cracked but firm, very good overall, interior clean & near fine, inscribed by author 'with the author's best regards'.
The author had travelled extensively in the middle east, Holy Land and North Africa. After describing his detailed preparations, the author describes his travels south from Algiers through northwest Africa, with much on the peoples, conditions, customs, celebrations, feasts, ruins, language, etc. The appendices including mammals, birds, reptiles, mollusca, plants collected, geology, geography, history of the Sahara. One of the maps shows caravan routes, the large map shows author's route in red.
US$320. bookID # 12535
WOOD, Rev. J. G.; The Fresh and Salt-Water Aquarium. London, George Routledge and Sons, 1868, First Edition, 12mo [16.5 x 11 cm]; viii, 182, [ii, ads] pp, 11 color plates (chromolithographs) including frontis as called for, including frontis, numerous text illustrations, original pictorial decorated gilt cloth, gilt spine title lettering, lightly rubbed at edges, spine ends bit worn, small bookseller label on endpaper, else near fine and clean, Victorian cover bright.
Freeman 4100. Published near the start of the aquarium hobby, those interested would find their specimens at the seashore rather than from a store (pet stores didn't exist at that time). The author provided detailed instructions on how to stock and maintain an aquarium and its inhabitants, which would include fish, mollusks, plants, beetles, reptiles, etc.
US$180. bookID # 13679
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