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Natural Histories: Extraordinary Rare Book Selections from the American Museum of Natural History Library
Inside the American Museum of Natural History is an eight-story library—one of the largest natural-science libraries in the Western Hemisphere—that contains over 450,000 volumes of monographs, pamphlets, reprints, and original rare books. Natural Histories allows readers a privileged glimpse of these seldom-seen, fully illustrated scientific works. Forty essays from the museum's top experts in a variety of disciplines enhance each rare tome's unique qualities and scientific contribution, and three to four illustrations accompany each one. This beautiful book will fascinate natural science and art lovers alike.
176 pages, Hardcover
First published October 2, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
July 22, 2019
Advances in technology both enable and are produced by an attempt to improve upon the understanding of the world we inhabit. Famously, grid communication and data processing intended to enable collaboration and faster analysis between physicists enabled the internet as we know it today, for example. But, inevitably, whilst these developments create new industries and avenues for discovery, older methods get left behind. This book celebrates the act of recording images and taxonomy before the invention of photography.
How can you convey to Europeans of the 1500's the incredible amoured plates of a rhino? Gessner did it through incredible ink drawings. With the invention of microscopy techniques, Robert Hooke was able to depict crystalline structure and the anatomy of a flea: visible to the human eye for the first time in history. Most of the stories in this book introduced people to cultures, flora, and fauna that they had no way of seeing otherwise.
The book is beautifully made and curated. It starts with a description of the history of the printing press, and more specifically, lithography using copper plates. These techniques are referred to extensively throughout the book and their availability heavily influenced how widely a work was disseminated and in the public consciousness.
One of the last entries in the volume discusses how both clothbound books and the separate construction of book-block and cover allowed a drastic reduction in price, making books more accessible to the common man. I thought this would have actually been a very nice place to end, given the forward on lithography but it's really my only criticism.
Natural histories is divided into 4-page sections, with the first page dedicated to a full-page reproduction of one of the books, the second and third pages describing the work, and the fourth page with smaller-scale multi-page scans of the work. This means that any text relating to these beautiful books is kept concise and forces the museum curators (that write the text) to limit their focus. I believe that this is the real strength of the work. For example, most of the book focuses on encyclopedia prints of animals but one really stood out because of the text:
Louis Renard's Fishes, crayfishes, and crabs of diverse colors was put together based on descriptions from his friends in the East India Company - he never saw the fishes himself. Curiously, to make the text more believable, he concocted completely fantastical descriptions of the behaviour of the animlas he drew and around 9% of the images themselves are totally made-up.
Or what about Seba's marsupials from the 1730's? Voss notes that the pates are remarkable for their dramatic composition and whimsy. Just looks at these goofy oppossums:
Or the incredibly intricate illustrations of the chambers of the Cymbolia magnifica in Wihlem Martini's New Sytematic shell-cabinet:
And not everything is animals! One treat for the eyes was the Campi Phlegraci: observations of the volcanoes of the two Sicilies, which is filled with gorgeous paintings like this:
There are many crazy and wonderful stories in this compilation and I loved reading it. If you can, try and get the more expensive edition that comes with beautiful prints to hang up - as I will certainly be trying to get hold of it now!
Highly recommended.
How can you convey to Europeans of the 1500's the incredible amoured plates of a rhino? Gessner did it through incredible ink drawings. With the invention of microscopy techniques, Robert Hooke was able to depict crystalline structure and the anatomy of a flea: visible to the human eye for the first time in history. Most of the stories in this book introduced people to cultures, flora, and fauna that they had no way of seeing otherwise.
The book is beautifully made and curated. It starts with a description of the history of the printing press, and more specifically, lithography using copper plates. These techniques are referred to extensively throughout the book and their availability heavily influenced how widely a work was disseminated and in the public consciousness.
One of the last entries in the volume discusses how both clothbound books and the separate construction of book-block and cover allowed a drastic reduction in price, making books more accessible to the common man. I thought this would have actually been a very nice place to end, given the forward on lithography but it's really my only criticism.
Natural histories is divided into 4-page sections, with the first page dedicated to a full-page reproduction of one of the books, the second and third pages describing the work, and the fourth page with smaller-scale multi-page scans of the work. This means that any text relating to these beautiful books is kept concise and forces the museum curators (that write the text) to limit their focus. I believe that this is the real strength of the work. For example, most of the book focuses on encyclopedia prints of animals but one really stood out because of the text:
Louis Renard's Fishes, crayfishes, and crabs of diverse colors was put together based on descriptions from his friends in the East India Company - he never saw the fishes himself. Curiously, to make the text more believable, he concocted completely fantastical descriptions of the behaviour of the animlas he drew and around 9% of the images themselves are totally made-up.
Or what about Seba's marsupials from the 1730's? Voss notes that the pates are remarkable for their dramatic composition and whimsy. Just looks at these goofy oppossums:
Or the incredibly intricate illustrations of the chambers of the Cymbolia magnifica in Wihlem Martini's New Sytematic shell-cabinet:
And not everything is animals! One treat for the eyes was the Campi Phlegraci: observations of the volcanoes of the two Sicilies, which is filled with gorgeous paintings like this:
There are many crazy and wonderful stories in this compilation and I loved reading it. If you can, try and get the more expensive edition that comes with beautiful prints to hang up - as I will certainly be trying to get hold of it now!
Highly recommended.
June 4, 2013
It's hard to imagine in this age of information overload that just a mere 150 - 200 years ago many people were still discovering the wonders of the natural world. This set (book and prints) gives us a look at the beautifully drawn renditions of mammals, fish, birds, and constellations found in some of the many books in the American Museum of Natural History Library as well as a short biography of sorts of the men and women who created these masterpieces. The painstakingly slow process of bringing these plates of pictures and books to life show a tenacity and fervor that cannot be denied. Some of the creatures depicted became extinct a short while after they were captured in all their glory, but many are still gracing our planet today. The meticulous work of these artists and scientists are still helpful to many scholars to this day and provide a fantastic panorama of the diversity of life on our planet.
September 5, 2021
A great read, consisting of each department of the museum (animals, insects, birds etc), with each section written by the specialist staff member.
The write up of each book is only three, four pages long, complete with colour illustrations/reproductions of the rare books that range from the 1500's through to the 1800's.
The write up of each book is only three, four pages long, complete with colour illustrations/reproductions of the rare books that range from the 1500's through to the 1800's.
November 2, 2025
This is a visually beautiful book featuring informative 2-page summaries of 40 rare books housed in the American Museum of Natural history. Each summary is accompanied by lavish plates and illustrations. You get a wonderful sense of these treasures and of the extraordinary efforts of naturalists and astronomers to document our earth and skies. Its the kind of book that makes you want to flick through it again and again to look at colourful crabs, delicately drawn birds, star clusters or nebulae. Gorgeous
April 6, 2022
My review would be biased toward an artistic approach, but I enjoy reading it as well.
Inside are short essays of selected Natural Histories from rare book collections of the American Museum of National History Library ranging from anthropology, paleontology, earth science, astronomy, and zoology all included with not just informative descriptions but also artistic illustrations.
And can I emphasize how aesthetically pleasing those illustrations are!
Some of the scientists even drew their subjects themselves, resulting in detailed illustrations with engraved plates as the medium making it even more fascinating.
Not only does this book tell the story of the history of science but it also an appreciation that science and art are often come hand in hand.
Inside are short essays of selected Natural Histories from rare book collections of the American Museum of National History Library ranging from anthropology, paleontology, earth science, astronomy, and zoology all included with not just informative descriptions but also artistic illustrations.
And can I emphasize how aesthetically pleasing those illustrations are!
Some of the scientists even drew their subjects themselves, resulting in detailed illustrations with engraved plates as the medium making it even more fascinating.
Not only does this book tell the story of the history of science but it also an appreciation that science and art are often come hand in hand.
September 7, 2020
Purchase Natural Histories here for just $10!
A jewel for those who enjoy illustration and nature. I would recommend buying 2 as the pictures are worth framing: ) Totally recommended!
Alicia - The Book Grocer
A jewel for those who enjoy illustration and nature. I would recommend buying 2 as the pictures are worth framing: ) Totally recommended!
Alicia - The Book Grocer
January 4, 2013
A beautiful book to get lost in. You'll even learn a thing or two. Worth a perusal.
April 12, 2013
The illustrations are the real draw - I wish I had months to spend in this rare book collection - but the history of the science and scientific process is fascinating as well.
August 21, 2014
Amazing!
May 27, 2016
Amazing!
January 20, 2017
Beautiful images and well told stories
August 31, 2017
udah setaun dong dari pertama kali aku mulai baca HAHA. yah, this book has basically been my goodnight story, i'm going to miss this
July 31, 2014
Good preparation for visiting the American Museum of Natural History.
June 11, 2018
I've been reading and admiring this book slowly over about a year' savoring each illustration and and saving the remainder for later. Unfortunately, I'm finally out of book This book was a gorgeous and fascinating introduction to several topics within natural history as viewed through the lens of the orinigal authors, explorers and artists. The reader learns about the history of natural history and gets glimpses into such varied fields and bookbinding and colonialism. I'd absolutely reccomend for anyone from those with an interest in natural history, to library scientists
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews