Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History, 1927. Hardcover. A portfolio of photogravures documenting the work of taxidermist and sculptor, Carl E. Akeley. Includes 48 plates of Akeley, his taxidermied animals, and bronze animal sculptures. Also with a one page essay about Akeley by Wilfred H. Osgood, curator of Zoology. All plates are present. Housed in a grey paper folder, inserted into a grey paper covered slipcase titled in black on the spine and front panels. Wear to the case including chipping to the edges and corners. Browning to the edges of the case. Slight browning to margins of plates, else in fine condition. Includes contents page. Plates are about 9 x 12 inches. NAT/011320. Very Good. More

Riverdale, CA: Bo Press Miniature Books, 2019. One of only two copies. A beautiful production from award winning miniature book artist Pat Sweet. She writes: "Around 1870, two large boxes, containing 450 watercolor drawings of fish native to East Asia, were given to the Universality of Groninggen by Senn van Basel, the former Dutch consul in Canton. The drawings were mostly accurate, but some were charmingly stylized and near anthropomorphic. I've taken a choice selection of these mysterious creatures and put them in two sides of a little clamshell box, interleaved with Japanese tissue, which in turn slides into a slip box. Both boxes are bound in an ocean-like hand-marbled paper by Jemma Lewis. The slip-box has a oak-framed illustration seen behind vellum." In fine condition. The clamshell box is 2 5/8 x 2 1/4 x 1 inch, and the slip-box is 2 7/8 x 2 1/2 x 1 1/4 inches. The prints are 2 1/2 x 1 1/2. Fine. More

Freeville, NY: Carol Schwartzott, 2008. Number 6 of 7 copies signed and numbered by this noted book artist. She writes of her beautifully conceived and executed production: "This work was originally created for a fund-raising auction. "Faces in the Wild" is an annual artist auction aimed at raising awareness and funds for wildlife protection. When I came across Spix's Macaw I immediately thought of presenting this endangered species within a cabinet, a technique that I began using early on in my career as a book artist and continue to enjoy. I frequently find small stashes of interesting materials and am also the recipient of many delightful hand-me-down gifts from friends and very often they seem to find a use in my art. So, the Spix's Macaw project soon housed not only the remaindered book I found on EBay, but a collection of molted feathers from a parakeet, nuts and seeds from some old potpourri, dried moss from last summer's flower arrangements, and any number of stencils and paper trimmings that I recycled from past projects." She describes the work as: "A modern curiosity cabinet, I like to think of it as a contemporary 'time machine' that visualizes the environment and habits of Spix's Macaw, an endangered and extinct in the wild bird." The assemblage is housed in 8 x 10 x 4 inch painted wooden box. Materials include a used picture frame, paper cut-outs of Macaws, glass bottles containing an assortment of found and collected items including birdseed, parakeet feathers, nuts, dried moss, remaindered book, paint, thread, ribbon. Original maps and bird illustrations from the artist's personal collection of old books were scanned and printed on an Epson Photo 2000 using archival inks and paper. These scans were later hand-embellished using paint, colored pencils, graphite, and inks. Stencils are the artist's hand-cut original designs, printed using water based paints. Shelves and stops are constructed of archival foam core, covered first with Japanese paper and recovered with a variety of printed and hand modified papers. The box houses two layers: above is the book [Spix's Macaw: The Race to Save the World's Rarest Bird by Toney Juniper (Atria Books, 2002)] and below the cabinet with the contained ephemera and three-dimensional exhibit. In fine condition. ARTISTSB/120319. More