lamdha books -
Catalogue of books on Australian animals

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59879 Archer, Michael, Suzanne J. Hand & Henk Godthelp Riversleigh The Story of Animals in Ancient Rainforests of Inland Australia Reed Books, Balgowlah NSW, 1996. Reprint: quarto; hardcover; 264pp., colour and monochrome illustrations. Moderate wear; lower board edges and corners rubbed and worn and mild spotting to upper text block edges. Rubbed and slightly edgeworn dustwrapper with small tear and associated creasing on upper rear panel edge; now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Good to very good. Riversleigh is a palaeontologist's dream come true. As part of Lawn Hill National Park, 200 kilometres north-west of Mount Isa, Queensland, it is one of the most significant fossil deposits in the world. It is certainly the richest and most curious find ever discovered in Australia. Remains of the many thousands of weird and wonderful prehistoric animals from the last 25 million years have been superbly preserved in the limestone outcrops. Michael Archer, Suzanne Hand and Henk Godthelp, the principal scientists on this remarkable excavation, have now written the definitive book on Riversleigh. Above all the light and easy style of writing, the many colour photographs and beautifully executed artwork by Dorothy Dunphy, bring to life the whole teeming world that once populated these now arid wastes. With a foreword by David Attenborough. Click here to order $30

217926 Cann, John Tortoises of Australia Angus & Robertson, Australia, 1978. Small paperback; 79pp. + 92 colour plates, b&w line drawings. Minor wear; mild toning and spotting to text block and page edges, slight wear to edges; else very good. Field guide with information arranged with reference to distribution, description, size and habitat. Click here to order $50

35771 Clode, Danielle Continent of Curiosities A Journey Through Australian Natural History Cambridge University Press, Melbourne Vic., 2006 Quarto; hardcover, with gilt spine titles; 212pp., with many monochrome illustrations. Mild wear. Dustwrapper slightly edgeworn; now professionally protected by non-adhesive polypropylene film. An eclectic path through the history of biological science from an Australian perspective, with insights into the people and places that influence the way we see and understand the natural world around us. Click here to order $25

217934 Cogger, Harold G. Reptiles & Amphibians of Australia Reed, Chatswood, 1975. First edition. Quarto; hardcover; brown boards with gilt spine-titling and map endpapers; 584pp., with many full-colour & black-&-white illustrations. Mild rubbing to lower board edges; faint spotting to text block edges; and very slight rubbing to dustwrapper. Very good to near fine. Wrapper now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Since the first edition of this work came out, it has been a must-have for anyone, layman or professional, who is interested in Australia's unique and very speciose collection of reptiles and amphibians. Successive upgrades through the years have kept this book up to date (but at the same time considerably larger and more expensive than the original). Quite simply, this book is a guide to all of Australia's (including its island territories) frogs and reptiles. Each animal has a full description of its appearance, distribution (by way of both text and an accompanying shaded map), habits and, in the majority of species, a corresponding colour photograph of the living animal. The book has very thorough and simple to use dichotomous keys that should allow any specimen in hand to be quickly identified. A comprehensive list of scientific references is also given for those wishing to conduct more in-depth research. Also included are basic guides to the collection, preservation and captive care of specimens. The ultimate guide. Click here to order $70

77417 Common, L.E.B., & D.E. Waterhouse Butterflies of Australia - revised edition Australian Natural Science Library Angus & Robertson Publishers, Sydney, NSW, Australia, 1981. Octavo; hardcover, with silver-gilt spine-title, turquoise endpapers; 682pp., with 47pp. of full-colour and half-tone plates, and many more line drawings and diagrams. Owner's name. Text block edges toned and spotted. Dustwrapper is very mildly edgeworn and slightly faded towards the lower edge (now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film). Very good. Click here to order $35

92475 D'abrera, Bernard Butterflies of the Australian Region Lansdowne Press, Melbourne Vic., 1971. Quarto hardcover, with gilt spine titling; 415pp., with many colour illustrations. Minor wear; board corners slightly worn; one or two spots and marks on text block edges; previous owner's bookplate tipped in. Dustwrapper with slightly faded spine; a small scrape to the spine panel head; now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Near fine. In 1971, this was the first major work on the subject of Australasian lepidoptera in over 50 years, covering Australia, Papua and New Guinea, the Moluccas, New Zealand and the islands of the South Pacific. All the major butterfly species within the region are described, and illustrated by over 3,000 natural size colour photographs showing, where necessary, recto and verso views and sexually dimorphic and seasonal forms. The descriptions include locality references, cross-references to previous studies, and notes on larval and pupal stages and food plants. A substantial introductory section covers the anatomy, biology, life cycle and habitat of butterflies, together with an outline of classification, nomenclature and the history of the collection. Click here to order $120

92359 Dixon, Joan M & Linda Huxley (eds.; Donald Thomson, photo.) Donald Thomson's Mammals and Fishes of Northern Australia Thomas Nelson, Melbourne, 1985. Quarto hardcover; brown boards with gilt spine titling; orange endpapers; 210pp., monochrome illustrations. Minor wear; slightly worn lower board edges and corners; foxing to endpapers, prelims, half-title page and upper text block edges. Slightly rubbed illustrated dustwrapper with some scattered spotting to rear panel and mildly faded spine panel. Very good with wrapper now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. This collection of Donald Thomson's original black and white plates, taken in the harsh conditions of northern Australia, shows a remarkable diversity of Australian fauna and their habitats, as well as images of the native inhabitants of the north. The text includes notes from diaries and records which Thomson kept on his travels as well as details of individual animals in his collection meticulously edited and annotated by Joan Dixon and Linda Huxley. Each species covered includes original notes by Thomson, locality map, comments by the authors and where possible, an identification photo and measurement table. Click here to order $25

217958 Gow, Graeme F. & Stephen Swanson Snakes & Lizards of Australia Angus & Robertson, 1977. Octavo hardcover; gray boards with white spine titling; comprising two guides - Gow's Snakes of Australia and Swanson's Lizards of Australia - Part one: 88pp., with 83 coloured plates following and Part two: 80pp., with 119pp., coloured plates. Minor wear; lower board edges and corners slightly rubbed; mildly toned text block edges; tiny tear to lower rear corner of dustwrapper. Otherwise very good and wrapper now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Click here to order $30

92490 Grigg, Gordon & Peter Jarman & Ian Hume (eds.) Kangaroos, Wallabies and Rat-Kangaroos - two volumes Surrey Beatty & Sons, Chipping Norton, 1989. Two quarto hardcover volumes; brown boards with gilt upper board and spine titling, yellow endpapers; 835pp., colour and monochrome illustrations. Minor wear; a few spots on endpapers and prelims; spotting to upper text block edges. Very good to near fine otherwise in like dustwrappers now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. "Some fifty thousand years after the discovery of kangaroos by the first human inhabitants of Australia, three hundred and sixty years after the first written observations on their mode of generation and thirty years after the formation of the Australian Mammal Society, by a group of hopefuls on a field excursion to Portee Station, it is appropriate to hold a meeting to find what is known about kangaroos and their allies." This is the opening address of the meeting to which G.B. Sharman alludes, and the book is the result of that meeting. There are about fifty Australian species of kangaroos, wallabies and rat-kangaroos collectively grouped in the family Macropodoidea. The two day symposium in 1988 assembled a wide range of interest from conservationists, researchers, teachers, zoologists, animal behaviourists and biologists. Many have contributed papers on all aspects of Macropodoidea life. Click here to order $100

217910 McCubbin, Charles Australian Butterflies Savvas, Adelaide, 1971. Reprint. Folio; hardcover, with gilt spine titling; 206pp., many colour and monochrome illustrations. Minor wear; board edges lightly rubbed, corners scraped; small mark on front endpaper; faint spotting to text block edges; mild wear to dustwrapper edges with chipping at spine panel extremities. Very good to near fine otherwise; wrapper now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. A superb production that despite being published fifty years ago is as beautiful and relevant as ever. The central jewel of this large format book is its many colour paintings. With the artist being a grandson of the great Fred McCubbin, it is hardly surprising. Beautifully designed with the colour plates filling nearly all pages, it is accompanied by a thorough text that deals with the taxonomy, classification and life-histories of the butterflies. But the exquisite detail with which the paintings are executed give to the 357 species of butterflies chosen a luminous appeal. Each painting is a cameo in natural history evoking a mood and a region, picturing a habitat and illustrating a food-plant. Click here to order $45

91870 Menkhorst, Peter & Frank Knight A Field Guide to the Mammals of Australia - signed copy Oxford University Press, 2001. Octavo softcover; illustrated vinyl covers, map endpapers; 269pp., colour and monochrome illustrations and diagrams. A few faint spots on upper text block edges; slight wear to upper edges of dustwrapper. Near fine otherwise. Signed in ink by both authors. Click here to order $30

63506 Moyal, Ann Platypus The Extraordinary Story of How a Curious Creature Baffled the World Allen & Unwin, Crow's Nest NSW, 2001. Octavo; hardcover, with gilt spine titles and endpapers maps; 226pp., with many monochrome illustrations. Minor wear; faint spotting to text block upper edge. Near fine in like dustwrapper. This is the enigmatic story of a biological riddle that confounded scientists for nearly ninety years, challenging theories of creationism, evolution and the classification of species along the way. Secretive, elusive and beguiling, the platypus has continued to captivate public and scientific attention to the present day. Ann Moyal's elegantly concise study dwells on all aspects of this utterly remarkable creature. Click here to order $20

9680 Owen, David, & David Pemberton Tasmanian Devil A Unique and Threatened Animal Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, NSW, Australia, 2005. Octavo; hardcover, with gilt spine-titling; 225pp., with a map, monochrome illustrations and 8pp. of full-colour photographic plates. Fine in like dustwrapper. Click here to order $18

92133 Rentz, David Grasshopper Country The Abundant Orthopteroid Insects of Australia UNSW Press, Sydney NSW, 1996. Large octavo; hardcover, with endpaper maps; 284pp., with many colour plates and monochrome illustrations. Minor wear; a few tiny chips at corners and mild spotting to text block edges; previous owner's name. Dustwrapper now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Very good to near fine. Murray Upton said of Australia in 1978 "Australia is grasshopper country, but there is no way to identify them". Taking these words as a challenge, David Rentz has compiled this guide to identifying all of Australia's orthopteroid insects. This minutely-researched work covers all grasshoppers, katydids, mantids, leaf and stick insects and cockroaches which populate the Bush and our cities. An essential guide for the serious researcher. Click here to order $70

48204 Roughley, T.C. Fish and Fisheries of Australia Angus & Robertson,Sydney, 1961. Revised and enlarged edition. Quarto hardcover; green boards with gilt spine titling and map endpapers; xv + 343pp. with 60 colour plates and 21 plates in black and white. Minor wear; foxing to endpapers, prelims and title page with browning and mild spotting to text block edges. Tears and tape stains to lower rear panel of dustwrapper; tiny missing segments on extremities of spine panel and some tiny chips especially at corners. Good to very good with wrapper now protected in archival film and white paper backing. Click here to order $30

210018 Williams, Anne & Ray Caring for Kangaroos and Wallabies - signed Kangaroo Press Pty. Ltd., East Roseville NSW, 1999. Quarto; paperback; 112pp., monochrome illustrations. Mild wear to cover edges; signed invitation to book launch laid in and inscribed half-title page. Very good to near fine. Click here to order $40

33536 Younger, R.M. Kangaroo: Images through the Ages Hutchinson Australia, 1988. Hardcover quarto; pink boards with gilt spine titling, and pink endpapers; 247pp., numerous colour and monochrome illustrations. Minor wear; a few tiny scrapes on board corners and edges and mild spotting to upper text block edges. Very good to near fine in like, slightly rubbed dustwrapper with minimal wear to edges. Wrapper now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. This book concentrates on the visual record of the kangaroo - from cave wall to political cartoon, from zoological sketch or study to zany commercial motif. The book charts the steady growth of knowledge about the strange creatures that intrigued the public for so long, and traces its unfolding career as a scientific riddle, an exotic curiosity, a national symbol and inevitably an eye-catching focus for advertising and promotion. It deals also with the kangaroo's place in the cosmography of animals and with the Australian projection of the kangaroo in a patriotic context. Moreover, the story is of those who captured or enlisted the aura of the kangaroo image. Cook, Banks, Stubbs, Shaw, Cuvier, Lear, Gould; a plethora of engravers, numerous encyclopaedists, various meticulous recorders, the propagandists and image-moulders of recent times all have a say if they have contributed to the legend or the iconography. Click here to order $22