Great Auk

by Errol Fuller

Pp. 448, more than 400 plates - 200 in color. Publisher's blue cloth, lettered in gilt on the spine, color pictorial dust jacket, sm folio (12 x 9 3/4 inches). This is the first American edition. Records show the Great Auk became extinct in 1844. This volume covers all aspects of its morphology, natural history, life cycles and prehistory. It also contains a detailed record of possible sightings long its recorded extinction date. There is a catalog of every known specimen and surviving eggs.

Genres: Science, Natural History, History, Nature

448 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Errol Fuller is an English writer and artist who lives in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. He was born in Blackpool, Lancashire, grew up in South London, and was educated at Addey and Stanhope School. He is the author of a series of books on extinction and extinct creatures.

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fabulous book! I won't lie I did not read it cover to cover but enjoyed learning from it. I'm so pleased that I was able to get this book from my local public library. They haven't totally given up books for circulating cake pans!

[Andrew Esposito · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wrote this review on amazon.com fifteen years ago. It is still the best reference book on the Great Auk - first issued in a Limited leather-bound Edition and then later as a hardback.


Fuller's book cannot possibly be surpassed on its subject, the extinction and remaining artifacts of the The Great Auk. A truly amazing book which details every stuffed auk from around the world, as well as all the egg specimens. Mostly with photographs, the history of how each specimen finally came to its current residence of display is a story in itself. Great detail is given to the obsessive collectors and dealers through the last 150 years also... Fuller's own Auk is photographed extensively in colour. Only question remaining on the subject is, What did Eric Fuller pay for his Greak Auk?"

[Will Buckingham · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to know about great auks—and I'm aware that perhaps few do—then Errol Fuller's book is superb, meticulous and could hardly be bettered.

[Therese Brink · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sadly, the great auk is no longer with us due to stupid human beings. This book made me very sad, because human beings keep on repeating the same environmental mistakes.