Nature Library

[Kenelm Philip]

> What were Vols. I-V?

	The Nature Library was the original version of what was published
later in a more compact form (17 vols in 8) as the New Nature Library. I
grew up with the Nature Library, but don't recall the order of the volumes.
That order was changed when it was reissued as the New Nature Library,
which contained the following volumes:
I:	Bird Neighbors
	Game Birds
	Bird Homes
II:	Butterfly Book (Holland)
	Moths (Holland's Moth Book)
III:	Trees
	Mosses & Lichens
IV:	Mushrooms
	Shells
V:	American Animals
	Reptiles
VI:	Fishes
	Frogs
VII:	Insects (Howard's Insect Book)
	Spiders (Comstock's Spider Book)
VIII:	Wild Flowers
	Grasses

Many of these books were first published even earlier than 1904 (1898 for
Holland's Butterfly Book, 1903 for Howard's Insect Book, etc.) when the
Nature Library came out--although I'm not sure if all volumes in that
set carry the same date.

	The book on wildflowers is written in a delightful post-Victorian
(purple) prose. The section about Indian Pipes accuses these saprophytes
of moral degeneration. "No wonder this degenerate hangs its head; no wonder
it grows black with shame on being picked, as if its wickedness were only
just then discovered!" Field guides have come a long way...

							Ken Philip
fnkwp at uaf.edu




 
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