Beaumont, Eilneen H.

Cranial morphology of the Loxommidae (Amphibia: Labyrinthodontia)

London: Royal Society, 1977. First edition Pp. 101, 27 text-figures and photographs. Publisher's orange printed wrappers, lg 4to. From the private library of H.D. Walley with his name stamp on the front wrapper. Small bump to one outer corner, a clean copy in near fine condition..

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Book number: 3009

Catalogue: Paleontology

Keywords: Palenotology geology

Bechstein, Johann Matthaus

Herrn de la Cepede's Naturgeschichte der Amphibien, oder der enerlegenden vierfussigen Thiere und der Schlangen: Eine Fortsetzung von Buffon's Naturgeschichte, in five volumes with hand-colored plates

Weimar: Verlage des Industrie: Comptoir's, 1800-1802. First edition. Pp. xxxii, 524; xx, 552; xxvi, 454; xx, 298; xii, 200; 168 mostly hand-colored lithographed plates. Light brown original boards, spine with red and black title/author labels and gilt panel lines, all pages edges in light green, 8vo. This scarce work is a translation into German of Count B.-G.-E- Lacepede’s “Histoire Naturelle des Quadrupedes Ovipares et des Serpens” originally published in 1788-1789. According to Adler’s “History of Herpetology” (p. 33-34), Lacepede’s work was one of the most important herpetological books of its time. The first two volumes of this work is devoted to amphibians and reptiles except for snakes. The following three volumes cover snakes including caecilians and amphisbaenians. According to Adler, Bechstein’s version is far more than a mere translation because he revised it with the addition of new information that appeared subsequent to Lacepede’s work, particularly from the works of German authors such as Blasius Merrem, J. G. Schneider and Johann David Schoepff. Bechstein also added extensive footnotes and additional accounts of new species; all of these are signed with the letter “B”. All of the 168 plates are newly engraved for Bechstein’s work. According to Adler, a large portion of this work is original and perhaps Bechstein was simply using Lacepede’s name merely to publish what is almost his own book and in a field where he had no standing. No ownership marks and few signs of use. Light scattered foxing to title pages with no affect to the plates; a bright and clean copy in near fine condition..

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Book number: 9595

Catalogue: Fine and Rare

Bedriaga, Jacques de

Wissenschaftliche Resultate der von N.M. Przewalski nach Central-Asien unternommenen Reisen Zoologischer Teil. Band III, Abth. 1: Amphibien und Reptilien. Lieferung (Part) I and II.

St. Petersburg: Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1898-1907. First edition. Pp. 1-70; 71-278; 4 full page lithographic plates with 4 un-paginated plate explanations. Early one-half brown leather with three raised bands on the spine that are highlighted with gilt panel-line decorations, author-title label in black morocco lettered in gilt in the second compartment, over attractive marbled boards, (original pale green wrapper for Part I is bound in place), sm folio. This text is simultaneously presented in Russian and German in parallel columns. This volume presents the herpetological collections made by the Russian explorer Nikolai Przewalsky on his five expeditions to China made from 1867 to 1885. Przewalsky died in Karakol in 1888 as he was about to embark on a sixth expedition to China. Parts I and II, offered here, cover the amphibians and the first part of the Lacertilia (Gekkonidae and Agamidae). Two other parts were also issued in 1909 and 1912 but are not offered here. Very scarce. No ownership marks. Some uniform mild age-toning; a bright and clean copy in near fine condition..

Natural History BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 4912

Catalogue: Fine and Rare

Keywords: Fine and rare herpetology herpetofauna amphibians China reptiles Russian German Nikolai Prezewalsky Bedriaga Lacertilia Gekkonidae Agamidae geckos lizards Agamids dragon lizards dragons

Bedriaga, Jacques de

Wissenschaftliche Resultate der von N.M. Przewalski nach Central-Asien unternommenen Reisen Zoologischer Teil. Band III, Abtheilung 1: Amphibien und Reptilien. Lieferung 1 to 4, complete in four parts

Saint Petersburg: Buchdruckerei der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1898-1912. First edition. Pp. I (blank), II (German title page), III (Russian title page), IV (authorization page), V-VI (contents) + Pp. 1-769 pages + plates I-X (10 uncolored lithographic plates), one photographic text figure. Each plate has an unpaginated page or pages of plate explanations. The book is in parallel Russian and German texts. The manuscript was written in German by Bedriaga and then translated into Russian by Alexander Nikolsky. Original printed gray wrappers, folio (27.9 cm width x 35.7 cm height), housed in a custom-made black cloth clam-shell box. This work presents the herpetological collections made by the Russian explorer Nikolai Przewalsky on his five expeditions to China made from 1867 to 1885. This volume represents the first major scientific treatise on the amphibians and reptiles of northern China. It covers a vast region from the Amur (Heilong Jiang) and Ussuri (Wusuli Jiang) river basins in northeastern China westward through Mongolia, the Ordos Plateau, and Gansu to Chinese Turkestan (later called Sinkiang and today, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region) on the Russo-Kazakh border and to the Tanggula mountains on the border of Tibet. The herpetological collections in toto amounted to some 1,200 specimens and included nine species of amphibians (salamanders 1, frogs 8) and 69 of reptiles (lizards 57, snakes 11, turtles 1), of which 30 were named by Bedriaga. Many of the new species were first published in two papers in the Annuaire du Musée Zoologique de l'Académie Impériale des Sciences de St.-Petersbourg (in volume 10 for 1905, published in 1907). Bedriaga's other new species were first published in this monograph. Although Bedriaga left Russia in 1873 to live in Germany, France, and Italy, he continued to have an interest in the Russian herpetofauna. The finely detailed plates were lithographed in Milan and Florence and the text was printed in Saint Petersburg (modified after Kraig Adler). From the library of Kraig Adler with his bookplate. Light marginal foxing to the front wrapper of Part 1, minor bump to the top outer corner of Part 2, light browning to the outer margins of the front wrapper of Part 3, a few tissue guards with light foxing, in a fine custom-made black cloth-covered clam-shell box; overall a tight copy in near fine condition..

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Book number: 8359

Catalogue: Fine and Rare

Beebe, William and Tee-Van, John

The Fishes of Port-Au-Prince Bay, Haiti.

New York: Zoological Society, 1928. First edition. Pp. 279, numerous text-figures. Original printed green wrappers, lg 8vo. From: Zoologica: Scientific Contributions of the New York Zoological Society, volume X, number 1. Documents the marine fishes in the oceanic waters around Haiti and Santo Domingo. From the library of Floyd S. Young, third director of the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago in the 1930s, with his signature on the front wrapper. A tight and clean copy in very good condition..

Natural History BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 4131

Catalogue: Ichthyology

Keywords: Ichthyology fish Port-Au-Prince Bay Haiti Santo Domingo Hispaniola Greater Antillean archipelago Caribbean Sea Floyd S. Young Beebe Tee-Van

Beebee, T. J. C.

Ecology and Conservation of Amphibians

London: Chapman & Hall, 1997. First edition, second printing. Pp. viii, 214, numerous text-figures. Publisher’s red and pink laminated printed pictorial hardboards, lettered in black on cover and spine, 8vo. From the series: Conservation Biology Series. This book connects all areas of amphibian ecology and conservation. This volume is from the research collection of herpetologist Lauren E. Brown with his signature on the front endpaper. Neat underling on pages 132, 135, 137-142, 145, and 171. A near fine copy..

Natural History BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 9331

Catalogue: Herpetology - Amphibians

Bekaert, Jacques

Kampuchea Diary 1983-1986

Bangkok: DD Books, 1987. First edition. Pp. 144 (un-numbered), 2 are large foldout reproductions of the full front page of the Bangkok Post, numerous black-and-white photos in individual articles. Publisher's color pictorial stiff wrappers, lettered in red on the spine and front cover, sm 4to. Jacques Bekaert is a journalist who wrote hundreds of articles about the war in Kampuchea (Cambodia) for the Bangkok Post between 1983-1986. Many of these articles are reprinted in this scarce volume on the history of the war and politics in Kampuchea. This is a journalistic review of this contentious war chronicled by Jacques Bekaert who was based in Bangkok and often traveled to Kampuchea. Most of the photos that accompany each article were also taken Jacques Bekaert. A rare compilation of information about Pol Pot and the war in Kampuchea. No ownership marks and few signs of use. Light edge wear to spine, a bright and clean copy in near fine condition..

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Book number: 7562

Catalogue: Archaeology + History

Bell, D. C.

Britain's Maritime History: An Illustrated Chronicle (limited edition of 300 numbered copies)

Hull, UK: privately published by author, 1982. Limited edition. Pp. 36 (unpaginated), with 12 full page hand-painted watercolors each with a protective onion skin clear sheet, and 23 uncolored drawings (12 are full page and 11 are text-figures). Full reddish brown leather, spine with five raised bands, lettered in gilt on two red morocco labels in two compartments and with gilt designs in four other compartments, gilt date of 1982 appears at the bottom of the spine, the volume is preserved in a red cloth-covered slipcase, oblong 4to. This edition is limited to 300 copies, each signed by the artist/author; this is copy no. 76. Each of the twelve hand-painted watercolors is also signed and titled by the artist, D. C. Bell. The foreword is by A.G. Credland, Keeper, Hull Maritime Museum. A scarce work with beautiful watercolor paintings of classic British ships in their historical contexts. No ownership marks. Insignificant crack to front outer joint near the top of the spine, the leather on the spine is lightly sunned, the cloth-covered slipcase has some light edge-wear; a tight and clean copy in near fine condition..

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Book number: 8127

Catalogue: Naturalist's Travels, Exploration and Biography

Bellairs, Angus and Carrington, Richard

The World of Reptiles

London: Chatto and Windus, 1969. Second impression. Pp. 154, 16 black and white photo plates, 26 text-figures. Publisher’s green cloth, lettered in gilt on spine, white pictorial dustjacket lettered in black, 8 vo. This volume provides an overview of reptiles as well as descriptions of the four living orders of reptiles. This volume is from the research collection of herpetologist Lauren E. Brown with his signature on the half title with a second signature on the front endpaper. A bright, clean copy in near fine condition..

Natural History BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 9048

Catalogue: Herpetology - Herpetofaunas

Bellwood, Peter

Man’s Conquest of the Pacific: The Prehistory of Southeast Asia and Oceania

New York: Oxford University Press, 1979. Second printing. Pp. 462, 27 color photographs, 248 black and white illustrations. Publisher’s blue cloth, lettered in gilt on spine, publisher’s pictorial blue dustjacket lettered in black and white on spine and front cover, 4to. This volume covers the prehistory of hominins in mainland and island southeast Asia. No ownership marks. A fine copy in a fine dustjacket..

Natural History BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 9081

Catalogue: Archaeology + History

Belon, Pierre

L'Histoire de la Nature des Oyseaux, avec Leuers Descriptions, & Naifs Portraicts Retirez du Naturel, seven Parts complete, bound in one volume

Paris: Guillaume Cavellat, 1555. First edition. Pp. (28), 381, (1, colophon); general title and six divisional titles each with a large woodcut device, 161 woodcuts in the text, including a portrait of the author, 2 skeletons, and 158 large cuts of birds. Eighteenth-century brown one-quarter calf leather over sprinkled paper-covered boards (the boards are likely the original due to a faint imprint of another cover beneath the sprinkled paper and due to fact that the book is sewn on alum-tawed thongs laced into the boards), tall 4to (13 x 9 inches). Belon's L'Histoire is ""one of the earliest books dealing entirely with birds"" (Ayer, Zimmer, p. 52). The present volume was intended as a compendium of ornithology and contains (the author's) important comparison of human and avian skeletons, which became the foundation of the science of comparative anatomy (see comments in Ronsil, no. 189). This work is a handsome example of the Cavellat issue of this important Renaissance work of science -- one of earliest printed ornithological books (See Nissen IVB 86; Norman 180; Mortimer French 50). Small bookplate on the front free endpaper, old name in ink crossed in the upper outer corner of the title page, no other ownership marks. Two pages have small marginal tears to paper with no effect to the text, the front attached endpaper has two old creases from the board that extend into the first section of the text, all of the text-pages and woodcuts are very bright and clean; a tight and clean copy in near fine condition..

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Book number: 8076

Catalogue: Fine and Rare

Bemis, William E. and Burggren, Warren W. and Kemp, Norman E. (editors)

The Biology and Evolution of Lungfishes.

New York: Alan R. Liss, 1987. First edition. Pp. viii, 383; numerous black-and-white photos, fine line-drawings, cladograms and maps. Publisher's original pictorial laminated boards (hardcover), lg 8vo. Based on proceedings of a symposium held during the American Society of Zoologists meeting in Denver, Colorado, December 27, 1984. This detailed study contains 18 chapters, by noted authorities in the field, on all aspects of the biology and evolution of lungfishes. The volume is divided into three sections: I. History and Literature; II. Paleontology, Systematics and Phylogeny; III. Biology of Living Species of Lungfishes. No ownership marks and few signs of use. Light wear to the outer joints and at the base of the spine, otherwise a tight and clean copy in near fine condition..

Natural History BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 6286

Catalogue: Ichthyology

Bendall, Derek S. (editor)

Evolution from Molecules to Men.

Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1983. First edition. Pp. xiii, 594; numerous text-figures (graphs, maps, cladograms). Publisher's original black cloth, lettered in gilt on the spine, pictorial dust jacket, lg 8vo. This volume presents a broad view of biological evolution as a whole, and attempts to identify the most outstanding scientific problems, 100 years after the death of Charles Darwin. The volume is divided into seven sections: Prologue, Evolutionary History, Molecular and Cellular Evolution, Evolution of Whole Organisms, Evolution of Social Behavior and Epilogue. There are 28 chapters in these sections, all written by notable authorities in the field. Bookplate of former owner on the front endpaper. A bright and clean copy in near fine condition in a near fine dust jacket..

Natural History BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 6367

Catalogue: Evolution and Heredity

Beneden, P.J. van

Description des Ossements Fossiles des Environs d'Anvers, Text volumes, Parts 2-5 (of 5 Parts).

Bruxelles: F. Hayrz, Imprimeur de l'Academie Royal de Belgique, 1880, 1882, 1885, 1886. First Edition. Pp. (4), 1-82, (1); (4), 1-90; (4), 1-40; (4), 1-139. Publisher's original gray printed stiff boards, lg folio (15 3/4 x 11 1/8 inches; 40 x 28.2 cm). Musee Royal d'Histoire Naturelle de Belgique, Annals tome IV, VII, IX and XIII. This work contains four of the five text volumes for this massive monograph on the fossil marine mammals found in the Tertiary beds of the D'Anvers region of Belgium that leads into the North Sea. The contents of the parts offered here include: Part II: Ceteaces. Genres - Balaena et Balaeontus, (1880); Part III: Ceteaces. (Balenopteres.) Genres - Megaptera, Balaeonptera, Burtinopsis et Erpetocetus (1882); Part IV: Ceteaces. Genre - Plesiocetus (1885) and Part V: Ceteaces. Genres - Amphicetus, Heterocetus, Mesocetus, Idiocetus et Isocetus (1886). Only Part I: Ceteaces. Pinnipedes, ou Amphitheriens (1877) is missing from this five part set of text volumes. No ownership marks and no signs of use. These text volumes are seldom offered as a partial set outside of the whole work. This is a very heavy and large set - the cost of airmail postage to Europe is $80 (this is a fixed cost that cannot be reduced). A fine (as new) set with no signs of use..

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Book number: 6049

Catalogue: Whales and Whaling

Bennett, Daniel

Warane der Welt Welt der Warane.

Frankfurt am Main: Edition Chimaira, 1996. First edition. Pp. 383; 179 fine color photos of the varanids of the world, numerous black-and-white photos, text-figures and distribution maps. Publisher's one-quarter black cloth over color pictorial laminated boards (hardcover), color pictorial dust jacket, lg 8vo. The title of this work translates to 'Varanids of the World The World of Varanids.' This work provides a detailed review of all of varanids throughout Asia, Australia and Africa. The text is in German with Latin names used throughout. No ownership marks. A bright and clean near fine copy (with the boards slighted bowed) in a near fine dust jacket..

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Book number: 4225

Catalogue: Herpetology - Lizards

Keywords: Herpetology herpetofauna reptiles