The guide resembles London Zoo guides of the time.
A Guidebook Library: TLD's year-long randomised walkthrough of zoo guides
- Thread starter TeaLovingDave
- Start date
I like how Kagu come from New California 
And the crowned crane may belong to a separate class of the crane family
Day 40: Zoo-Aquarium Berlin (1975) - Granulated Poison Frog
Page count: 48
Photographs: 34 black-and-white photographs, 6 colour photographs
Illustrations/diagrams: N/A
Layout: Introduction and history of the aquarium, followed by comprehensive walkthrough account of species and exhibits within.
Map: Located on back cover of guidebook
This time round, the guidebook selected is a particularly interesting one; over the course of nearly a century, Zoo Berlin issued a number of stand-alone guidebooks to the Zoo-Aquarium (many of the 1980s guidebooks to the primary collection including segments devoted to the aquarium, as we may or may not cover at some point), which first opened in August 1913 as a replacement for the Unter den Linden Aquarium located in the city centre which had closed in 1910. This particular guidebook is one of the first Berlin items I obtained when starting my collection, and by chance represents a fairly significant point in the history of the collection; after the aquarium was all-but-destroyed during World War II, several decades of rebuilding and redevelopment had taken place at the hands of Dr Werner Schröder (the director of the Zoo-Aquarium after 1952) which were by this point nearing their completion. As such, this guidebook represents a collection once again in its prime after many decades.
The guidebook opens with an introductory segment detailing the history and development of the aquarium, covering many of the points I alluded to above in significantly greater detail, before moving into a discussion of key technical factors relating to the maintenance and successful operation of the aquarium. This latter section goes into detail about aspects such as the filtration systems used in the Zoo-Aquarium, the total quantity of freshwater and saltwater present within the exhibit tanks and reservoirs, the structure and construction of particular tanks, and the feeding schedule of the various fish, reptiles and amphibians within the collection. The fact that I feel a good guidebook should present information regarding the history and development of the collection in question is no secret at this point, given how often I have mentioned the subject within this thread; however I think this particular guidebook goes above and beyond in this regard given the inclusion of the aforementioned technical information. Such information is valuable not only to those interested in zoo history, but also to those with a more casual interest given the fact it gives an insight into the requirements which go into the design and operation of a zoological collection, yet is remarkably scarce in zoo guidebooks.
The main body of the guidebook - a rough walkthrough account of the species and exhibits present within - is divided into three sections, each pertaining to one of the three floors of the aquarium building; many of the exhibits discussed cite the precise species displayed within, however the majority of the guidebook refers to species in more broad and general terms and as such, the guidebook cannot be used to piece together anything close to an exact stocklist of the species displayed within the Zoo-Aquarium at the time of publication. Given how exceptionally speciose the collection was at the time - as I shall recount anon - this is hardly surprising! The first of these sections discusses the aquatic exhibits on the ground floor of the aquarium, containing a wide variety of fish and marine invertebrates. The exhibit accounts pertaining to the ground floor are divided into two, those accounts relating to freshwater exhibits and those relating to saltwater exhibits, both of which are illustrated throughout by a variety of black-and-white photographs showing some of the highlight species within the collection.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, this section is the longest and most in-depth portion of the walkthrough discussion, comprising close to a third of the total length of the guidebook as a whole; beyond here, a range of colour photographs - including a pair of full-page images - showing highlight species from both the ground floor and first floor of the aquarium occupy the central pages of the guidebook. This photographic selection also includes one of the few exhibit photographs within the guidebook, showing the central Krokodilhalle which was rebuilt to the original design and layout after being entirely destroyed during WWII when a bomb scored a direct hit on the exhibit - this being the same incident which nearly destroyed the Zoo-Aquarium as a whole, leaving the basement and a gutted external shell standing.
The second section of the walkthrough account details the amphibian and reptile collection displayed on the first floor of the Zoo-Aquarium, comprising as it does today a variety of tanks and exhibits located around a perimeter corridor, with the aforementioned walkthrough crocodile hall within the central hub of the building. This section is perhaps the most detailed in terms of the species held within; although there are still numerous exhibits and species referred to in more general terms, the number of precise taxa being highlighted is noticeably higher here. This also means that this section is perhaps the easiest to interpret from the point of view of a reader not entirely familiar with German - although later guidebooks published for the Zoo-Aquarium were dual-language, this particular edition is entirely presented in German and as such being able to home in on taxonomic names and recognisable common names (given that once one has visited several German collections and read enough German-language guidebooks, it is possible to gain a pretty strong fluency in understanding common names of species) is a definite bonus.
The third and final section of the walkthrough account comprises the invertebrate exhibits located on the second floor of the Zoo-Aquarium; for obvious reasons this is the most general of the three sections, with very few scientific names being given, but nonetheless seems to be fairly detailed and conveys the scope and size of the invertebrate collection within the Zoo-Aquarium at the time of publication. It is quite apparent that, extensive though the modern-day invertebrate collection within the aquarium may be, the range and variety of species displayed at the time of publication represented an order of magnitude greater still.
Beyond here, the guidebook concludes with a brief segment discussing the number of species and individual animals displayed within the Zoo-Aquarium at the time of publication, before conveying visitor information such as the opening and closing times of the aquarium, various feeding times for select species within, and equivalent information for the neighbouring zoo itself. The first of these segments comprises, I feel, information that would be worth presenting in full, as I shall now do:
January 1st 1975 - total of 1362 species held, c.10,390 individual animals held
Sponges and Jellyfish - 23 species, 294 individual animals
Worms, Sea-squirts and Echinoderms - 18 species, 226 individual animals
Crustaceans - 19 species, 149 individual animals
Insects - 128 species, c.5,400 individual animals
Arachnids - 63 species, c.180 individual animals
Molluscs - 34 species, 666 individual animals
Freshwater Fish - 525 species, c.2,000 individual animals
Saltwater Fish - 144 species, c.560 individual animals
Amphibians - 102 species, c.300 individual animals
Lizards - 95 species, 205 individual animals
Snakes - 80 species, 141 individual animals
Tortoises and Turtles - 105 species, 216 individual animals
Crocodilians - 26 species, 53 individual animals
The back cover of the guidebook comprises a map of the collection, showing an isometric cross-section view of the Zoo-Aquarium with each of the major exhibit areas clearly numbered with corresponding labels in the key below; the final entry in the key pertains to an inset drawing of the overall aquarium building, as seen from the nearby Budapester Straße on which the aquarium - and the zoo itself - is located. The guidebooks published by the collection in latter years - although significantly more detailed and, as noted, providing both German and English text - ceased to contain maps of the aquarium building, something which I feel to be a great pity.
Overall, then, this guidebook comprises a very interesting primary resource pertaining to the history and development of Zoo Berlin and the aquarium thereof; moreover, it is also an informative and well-formatted document which serves the various key purposes of a zoo guidebook - to entertain and educate the visitor to a zoological collection, going into greater detail about the species within, and to hopefully provide an insight into the history and behind-the-scenes upkeep of the collection in question - very well indeed. As such, this is another item which is highly-recommended to anyone with an interest in collecting zoo guidebooks in general, or who has a specific interest in the zoological collections located in Berlin.
Page count: 48
Photographs: 34 black-and-white photographs, 6 colour photographs
Illustrations/diagrams: N/A
Layout: Introduction and history of the aquarium, followed by comprehensive walkthrough account of species and exhibits within.
Map: Located on back cover of guidebook
This time round, the guidebook selected is a particularly interesting one; over the course of nearly a century, Zoo Berlin issued a number of stand-alone guidebooks to the Zoo-Aquarium (many of the 1980s guidebooks to the primary collection including segments devoted to the aquarium, as we may or may not cover at some point), which first opened in August 1913 as a replacement for the Unter den Linden Aquarium located in the city centre which had closed in 1910. This particular guidebook is one of the first Berlin items I obtained when starting my collection, and by chance represents a fairly significant point in the history of the collection; after the aquarium was all-but-destroyed during World War II, several decades of rebuilding and redevelopment had taken place at the hands of Dr Werner Schröder (the director of the Zoo-Aquarium after 1952) which were by this point nearing their completion. As such, this guidebook represents a collection once again in its prime after many decades.
The guidebook opens with an introductory segment detailing the history and development of the aquarium, covering many of the points I alluded to above in significantly greater detail, before moving into a discussion of key technical factors relating to the maintenance and successful operation of the aquarium. This latter section goes into detail about aspects such as the filtration systems used in the Zoo-Aquarium, the total quantity of freshwater and saltwater present within the exhibit tanks and reservoirs, the structure and construction of particular tanks, and the feeding schedule of the various fish, reptiles and amphibians within the collection. The fact that I feel a good guidebook should present information regarding the history and development of the collection in question is no secret at this point, given how often I have mentioned the subject within this thread; however I think this particular guidebook goes above and beyond in this regard given the inclusion of the aforementioned technical information. Such information is valuable not only to those interested in zoo history, but also to those with a more casual interest given the fact it gives an insight into the requirements which go into the design and operation of a zoological collection, yet is remarkably scarce in zoo guidebooks.
The main body of the guidebook - a rough walkthrough account of the species and exhibits present within - is divided into three sections, each pertaining to one of the three floors of the aquarium building; many of the exhibits discussed cite the precise species displayed within, however the majority of the guidebook refers to species in more broad and general terms and as such, the guidebook cannot be used to piece together anything close to an exact stocklist of the species displayed within the Zoo-Aquarium at the time of publication. Given how exceptionally speciose the collection was at the time - as I shall recount anon - this is hardly surprising! The first of these sections discusses the aquatic exhibits on the ground floor of the aquarium, containing a wide variety of fish and marine invertebrates. The exhibit accounts pertaining to the ground floor are divided into two, those accounts relating to freshwater exhibits and those relating to saltwater exhibits, both of which are illustrated throughout by a variety of black-and-white photographs showing some of the highlight species within the collection.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, this section is the longest and most in-depth portion of the walkthrough discussion, comprising close to a third of the total length of the guidebook as a whole; beyond here, a range of colour photographs - including a pair of full-page images - showing highlight species from both the ground floor and first floor of the aquarium occupy the central pages of the guidebook. This photographic selection also includes one of the few exhibit photographs within the guidebook, showing the central Krokodilhalle which was rebuilt to the original design and layout after being entirely destroyed during WWII when a bomb scored a direct hit on the exhibit - this being the same incident which nearly destroyed the Zoo-Aquarium as a whole, leaving the basement and a gutted external shell standing.
The second section of the walkthrough account details the amphibian and reptile collection displayed on the first floor of the Zoo-Aquarium, comprising as it does today a variety of tanks and exhibits located around a perimeter corridor, with the aforementioned walkthrough crocodile hall within the central hub of the building. This section is perhaps the most detailed in terms of the species held within; although there are still numerous exhibits and species referred to in more general terms, the number of precise taxa being highlighted is noticeably higher here. This also means that this section is perhaps the easiest to interpret from the point of view of a reader not entirely familiar with German - although later guidebooks published for the Zoo-Aquarium were dual-language, this particular edition is entirely presented in German and as such being able to home in on taxonomic names and recognisable common names (given that once one has visited several German collections and read enough German-language guidebooks, it is possible to gain a pretty strong fluency in understanding common names of species) is a definite bonus.
The third and final section of the walkthrough account comprises the invertebrate exhibits located on the second floor of the Zoo-Aquarium; for obvious reasons this is the most general of the three sections, with very few scientific names being given, but nonetheless seems to be fairly detailed and conveys the scope and size of the invertebrate collection within the Zoo-Aquarium at the time of publication. It is quite apparent that, extensive though the modern-day invertebrate collection within the aquarium may be, the range and variety of species displayed at the time of publication represented an order of magnitude greater still.
Beyond here, the guidebook concludes with a brief segment discussing the number of species and individual animals displayed within the Zoo-Aquarium at the time of publication, before conveying visitor information such as the opening and closing times of the aquarium, various feeding times for select species within, and equivalent information for the neighbouring zoo itself. The first of these segments comprises, I feel, information that would be worth presenting in full, as I shall now do:
January 1st 1975 - total of 1362 species held, c.10,390 individual animals held
Sponges and Jellyfish - 23 species, 294 individual animals
Worms, Sea-squirts and Echinoderms - 18 species, 226 individual animals
Crustaceans - 19 species, 149 individual animals
Insects - 128 species, c.5,400 individual animals
Arachnids - 63 species, c.180 individual animals
Molluscs - 34 species, 666 individual animals
Freshwater Fish - 525 species, c.2,000 individual animals
Saltwater Fish - 144 species, c.560 individual animals
Amphibians - 102 species, c.300 individual animals
Lizards - 95 species, 205 individual animals
Snakes - 80 species, 141 individual animals
Tortoises and Turtles - 105 species, 216 individual animals
Crocodilians - 26 species, 53 individual animals
The back cover of the guidebook comprises a map of the collection, showing an isometric cross-section view of the Zoo-Aquarium with each of the major exhibit areas clearly numbered with corresponding labels in the key below; the final entry in the key pertains to an inset drawing of the overall aquarium building, as seen from the nearby Budapester Straße on which the aquarium - and the zoo itself - is located. The guidebooks published by the collection in latter years - although significantly more detailed and, as noted, providing both German and English text - ceased to contain maps of the aquarium building, something which I feel to be a great pity.
Overall, then, this guidebook comprises a very interesting primary resource pertaining to the history and development of Zoo Berlin and the aquarium thereof; moreover, it is also an informative and well-formatted document which serves the various key purposes of a zoo guidebook - to entertain and educate the visitor to a zoological collection, going into greater detail about the species within, and to hopefully provide an insight into the history and behind-the-scenes upkeep of the collection in question - very well indeed. As such, this is another item which is highly-recommended to anyone with an interest in collecting zoo guidebooks in general, or who has a specific interest in the zoological collections located in Berlin.
Gigit
Well-Known Member
Bristol: I haven't had time to read any of these posts in depth but the Bristol Guide did catch my eye in being "an interesting book for children". Compared to the new signs around my local zoo, it reads like a scientific journal.
An example of their calibre is "You might occasionally see our squirrel monkeys wee on their hands - we think they do this to leave a scent trail that other members of the troop can follow. Please don't be tempted to try this yourself - at least not until you get home!" Amusing for pre-schoolers perhaps but not exactly informative or educational. How times have changed!
An example of their calibre is "You might occasionally see our squirrel monkeys wee on their hands - we think they do this to leave a scent trail that other members of the troop can follow. Please don't be tempted to try this yourself - at least not until you get home!" Amusing for pre-schoolers perhaps but not exactly informative or educational. How times have changed!
I'll be sure to let you know if/when I tackle a guidebook pertaining to one of the Whitley collections!
Day 41: Le Parc des Felins (2007) - For A Successful Visit (English-language)
Page count: 34 (including interior front and rear covers)
Photographs: N/A
Illustrations/diagrams: 64
Layout: Introduction and history of collection, followed by children's book on cat species reproduced verbatim, concluding with visitor rules and guidelines.
Map: Fold-out map located within inner rear cover.
A fairly unusual item this time round; this guidebook - issued by Parc des Felins shortly after it first opened - somewhat strains the definition, comprising for all intents and purposes an existing French children's book on the various cat species of the world, reprinted with a small amount of accompanying material focusing on the zoological collection being presented on the inner front cover, inner rear cover and back cover. This also means that - for obvious reasons - this post will cover the main body of the "guidebook" in only the briefest terms!
As can be seen above, the inner front cover of this item contains a short account relating to the background of Parc des Felins - which as noted, had only recently opened at the time of publication - and the general aims and intentions of the collection going forward. Considering how little information is otherwise presented within this guidebook relating to the collection in question, the fact that it provides more historical and background information than many items published by more long-standing and weighty zoological collections is actually quite a pleasant surprise.
The main body of this guidebook, as noted, comprises an English-language reprint of a 1998 children's book published in France under the name Les Félins; some of the text content is noted to have been translated and scientifically-updated by the curator of Parc des Felins, but otherwise I believe it is presented more or less "as is" when compared to the original book. The contents are pretty high-quality for a children's book, not condescending to the reader or dumbing-down the information presented, and as such I think that this is precisely the sort of book I would have thoroughly enjoyed when growing up; although the main body of the text does not provide any scientific names, the index at the rear contains a complete and comprehensive list of every taxon mentioned within the text (every species recognised at the time of publication, alongside selected subspecies) giving both the common and scientific name for each. There are only two real issues with the content of this book - firstly, the various taxa discussed within are not arranged by taxonomic relationships, geographic location or even the habitat in which they live, but rather (somewhat strangely) the pattern of their coat! As such, the contents are divided into sections for "Striped-fur Felines", "Plain-coat Felines", "Spotted-fur Felines", "Dot-spotted Felines" and "Domestic Cats" - not only is this somewhat awkward to read, but moreover the division of taxa into a given category is not always consistent or logical; for instance, Pallas Cat is listed as a "Striped-fur Feline" despite fitting much better into the second category, whilst the significantly blotchier and stripier Andean Cat is listed as a "Dot-spotted Feline". The second major issue with the content of this book is the quality of the illustrations throughout - some are pretty good, and easily-recognisable as the species at hand, but many resemble the artistic equivalent of the infamous Marbled Cat taxidermy mount at Melbourne Museum!
After the book concludes, the fold-out interior back cover contains a rather detailed and high-quality map of the Parc des Felins site, labelling the exhibits both in alphabetical order and by the geographic origin of the taxa held within, and with the general layout and relative size of the exhibits and enclosures clearly visible. As such, this is definitely a much better map than one would initially expect on first encountering this guidebook, and realising that it holds only a tangential connection to the collection for which it was published; it even contains one notable surprise for the observant zoo enthusiast, listing as it does Black-footed Cat among the taxa exhibited - although I was aware that Les Félins d´Auneau, the predecessor collection to Parc des Felins, had held the species I was unaware that the species had lived long enough to move to the new site! It is, of course, possible that the Black-footed Cat lived long enough for the guidebook to enter production... but not long enough to ever actually go on-display!
The final portion of this guidebook comprises, as can be seen above, a selection of visitor rules and guidelines printed on the fold-out external back cover - given how reclusive many cat species are in captivity, requiring patience and persistence from the visitor to a zoological collection, the fact that this segment contains explicit advice regarding this point is another definite point in the favour of this guidebook.
Overall, then, despite the fact that it has less connection to the zoological collection at hand than one would generally hope from a zoo guidebook, I would actually have to say this item is surprisingly good; the information pertaining to Parc des Felins which *is* presented demonstrates a rather high level of detail and quality, and the main body of the text is a genuinely good book in its own right.... the occasionally ridiculous artwork aside. I am unsure whether or not Parc des Felins ever *has* published a true guidebook to the collection, or whether the pamphlets and leaflets which I own elsewhere in my collection represent the extent of their output in this regard, but in the meantime this is a damn good substitute!
Page count: 34 (including interior front and rear covers)
Photographs: N/A
Illustrations/diagrams: 64
Layout: Introduction and history of collection, followed by children's book on cat species reproduced verbatim, concluding with visitor rules and guidelines.
Map: Fold-out map located within inner rear cover.
A fairly unusual item this time round; this guidebook - issued by Parc des Felins shortly after it first opened - somewhat strains the definition, comprising for all intents and purposes an existing French children's book on the various cat species of the world, reprinted with a small amount of accompanying material focusing on the zoological collection being presented on the inner front cover, inner rear cover and back cover. This also means that - for obvious reasons - this post will cover the main body of the "guidebook" in only the briefest terms!
As can be seen above, the inner front cover of this item contains a short account relating to the background of Parc des Felins - which as noted, had only recently opened at the time of publication - and the general aims and intentions of the collection going forward. Considering how little information is otherwise presented within this guidebook relating to the collection in question, the fact that it provides more historical and background information than many items published by more long-standing and weighty zoological collections is actually quite a pleasant surprise.
The main body of this guidebook, as noted, comprises an English-language reprint of a 1998 children's book published in France under the name Les Félins; some of the text content is noted to have been translated and scientifically-updated by the curator of Parc des Felins, but otherwise I believe it is presented more or less "as is" when compared to the original book. The contents are pretty high-quality for a children's book, not condescending to the reader or dumbing-down the information presented, and as such I think that this is precisely the sort of book I would have thoroughly enjoyed when growing up; although the main body of the text does not provide any scientific names, the index at the rear contains a complete and comprehensive list of every taxon mentioned within the text (every species recognised at the time of publication, alongside selected subspecies) giving both the common and scientific name for each. There are only two real issues with the content of this book - firstly, the various taxa discussed within are not arranged by taxonomic relationships, geographic location or even the habitat in which they live, but rather (somewhat strangely) the pattern of their coat! As such, the contents are divided into sections for "Striped-fur Felines", "Plain-coat Felines", "Spotted-fur Felines", "Dot-spotted Felines" and "Domestic Cats" - not only is this somewhat awkward to read, but moreover the division of taxa into a given category is not always consistent or logical; for instance, Pallas Cat is listed as a "Striped-fur Feline" despite fitting much better into the second category, whilst the significantly blotchier and stripier Andean Cat is listed as a "Dot-spotted Feline". The second major issue with the content of this book is the quality of the illustrations throughout - some are pretty good, and easily-recognisable as the species at hand, but many resemble the artistic equivalent of the infamous Marbled Cat taxidermy mount at Melbourne Museum!
After the book concludes, the fold-out interior back cover contains a rather detailed and high-quality map of the Parc des Felins site, labelling the exhibits both in alphabetical order and by the geographic origin of the taxa held within, and with the general layout and relative size of the exhibits and enclosures clearly visible. As such, this is definitely a much better map than one would initially expect on first encountering this guidebook, and realising that it holds only a tangential connection to the collection for which it was published; it even contains one notable surprise for the observant zoo enthusiast, listing as it does Black-footed Cat among the taxa exhibited - although I was aware that Les Félins d´Auneau, the predecessor collection to Parc des Felins, had held the species I was unaware that the species had lived long enough to move to the new site! It is, of course, possible that the Black-footed Cat lived long enough for the guidebook to enter production... but not long enough to ever actually go on-display!
The final portion of this guidebook comprises, as can be seen above, a selection of visitor rules and guidelines printed on the fold-out external back cover - given how reclusive many cat species are in captivity, requiring patience and persistence from the visitor to a zoological collection, the fact that this segment contains explicit advice regarding this point is another definite point in the favour of this guidebook.
Overall, then, despite the fact that it has less connection to the zoological collection at hand than one would generally hope from a zoo guidebook, I would actually have to say this item is surprisingly good; the information pertaining to Parc des Felins which *is* presented demonstrates a rather high level of detail and quality, and the main body of the text is a genuinely good book in its own right.... the occasionally ridiculous artwork aside. I am unsure whether or not Parc des Felins ever *has* published a true guidebook to the collection, or whether the pamphlets and leaflets which I own elsewhere in my collection represent the extent of their output in this regard, but in the meantime this is a damn good substitute!
That is an impressive collection. I am surprised about the 102 species of amphibians. It is far higher than the collection of @ 45 species at Chemnitz a few years ago.
Day 41: Le Parc des Felins (2007) - For A Successful Visit (English-language)
Page count: 34 (including interior front and rear covers)
Photographs: N/A
Illustrations/diagrams: 64
Layout: Introduction and history of collection, followed by children's book on cat species reproduced verbatim, concluding with visitor rules and guidelines.
Map: Fold-out map located within inner rear cover.
A fairly unusual item this time round; this guidebook - issued by Parc des Felins shortly after it first opened - somewhat strains the definition, comprising for all intents and purposes an existing French children's book on the various cat species of the world, reprinted with a small amount of accompanying material focusing on the zoological collection being presented on the inner front cover, inner rear cover and back cover. This also means that - for obvious reasons - this post will cover the main body of the "guidebook" in only the briefest terms!
As can be seen above, the inner front cover of this item contains a short account relating to the background of Parc des Felins - which as noted, had only recently opened at the time of publication - and the general aims and intentions of the collection going forward. Considering how little information is otherwise presented within this guidebook relating to the collection in question, the fact that it provides more historical and background information than many items published by more long-standing and weighty zoological collections is actually quite a pleasant surprise.
The main body of this guidebook, as noted, comprises an English-language reprint of a 1998 children's book published in France under the name Les Félins; some of the text content is noted to have been translated and scientifically-updated by the curator of Parc des Felins, but otherwise I believe it is presented more or less "as is" when compared to the original book. The contents are pretty high-quality for a children's book, not condescending to the reader or dumbing-down the information presented, and as such I think that this is precisely the sort of book I would have thoroughly enjoyed when growing up; although the main body of the text does not provide any scientific names, the index at the rear contains a complete and comprehensive list of every taxon mentioned within the text (every species recognised at the time of publication, alongside selected subspecies) giving both the common and scientific name for each. There are only two real issues with the content of this book - firstly, the various taxa discussed within are not arranged by taxonomic relationships, geographic location or even the habitat in which they live, but rather (somewhat strangely) the pattern of their coat! As such, the contents are divided into sections for "Striped-fur Felines", "Plain-coat Felines", "Spotted-fur Felines", "Dot-spotted Felines" and "Domestic Cats" - not only is this somewhat awkward to read, but moreover the division of taxa into a given category is not always consistent or logical; for instance, Pallas Cat is listed as a "Striped-fur Feline" despite fitting much better into the second category, whilst the significantly blotchier and stripier Andean Cat is listed as a "Dot-spotted Feline". The second major issue with the content of this book is the quality of the illustrations throughout - some are pretty good, and easily-recognisable as the species at hand, but many resemble the artistic equivalent of the infamous Marbled Cat taxidermy mount at Melbourne Museum!
After the book concludes, the fold-out interior back cover contains a rather detailed and high-quality map of the Parc des Felins site, labelling the exhibits both in alphabetical order and by the geographic origin of the taxa held within, and with the general layout and relative size of the exhibits and enclosures clearly visible. As such, this is definitely a much better map than one would initially expect on first encountering this guidebook, and realising that it holds only a tangential connection to the collection for which it was published; it even contains one notable surprise for the observant zoo enthusiast, listing as it does Black-footed Cat among the taxa exhibited - although I was aware that Les Félins d´Auneau, the predecessor collection to Parc des Felins, had held the species I was unaware that the species had lived long enough to move to the new site! It is, of course, possible that the Black-footed Cat lived long enough for the guidebook to enter production... but not long enough to ever actually go on-display!
The final portion of this guidebook comprises, as can be seen above, a selection of visitor rules and guidelines printed on the fold-out external back cover - given how reclusive many cat species are in captivity, requiring patience and persistence from the visitor to a zoological collection, the fact that this segment contains explicit advice regarding this point is another definite point in the favour of this guidebook.
Overall, then, despite the fact that it has less connection to the zoological collection at hand than one would generally hope from a zoo guidebook, I would actually have to say this item is surprisingly good; the information pertaining to Parc des Felins which *is* presented demonstrates a rather high level of detail and quality, and the main body of the text is a genuinely good book in its own right.... the occasionally ridiculous artwork aside. I am unsure whether or not Parc des Felins ever *has* published a true guidebook to the collection, or whether the pamphlets and leaflets which I own elsewhere in my collection represent the extent of their output in this regard, but in the meantime this is a damn good substitute!
Dave, you said it's a children's book. Pretty sure children better identify animals by their fur patterns than their taxa
What a neat book! For a specialist facility, that seems like a great way to get across the info for all ages without them having to devote the time (and money) to making their own. Thanks for including the cheetah page for me <3
Day 42: Zoo-Exotarium Frankfurt (1958) - Diving Penguins
Page count: 24
Photographs: 22 black-and-white photographs.
Illustrations/diagrams: N/A
Layout: Introduction and history of Exotarium, followed by walkthrough account and general discussion of species groups displayed within.
Map: Pair of maps in central pages, showing plan of Exotarium and cross-section of overall building.
A very interesting item today, representing something of a counterpart to the guidebook we discussed earlier this week pertaining to the Zoo-Aquarium in Berlin; the Exotarium at Zoo Frankfurt is, in many ways, one of the two exhibit complexes in Germany which come closest to rivalling said structure in scope and diversity, alongside the aquarium at Zoo Köln. Like the aquariums at both Berlin and Köln, the Exotarium charged a separate entrance fee beyond that required to enter the parent collection - one reason, perhaps, why a distinct guidebook was long produced for all three exhibits. Now, of course, only the exhibit at Zoo Berlin requires a distinct entrance fee, whilst all three collections have abandoned the production of guidebooks entirely. The first thing that needs to be said is that the cover artwork of this item - both on the front and rear of the guidebook - is extremely attractive and eye-catching, as one can see from the above images; particularly where the rear cover is concerned, it provides an immediate impression of the wide range of species displayed within the Exotarium, across many different animal groups. As such, even before one starts to read the guidebook, it conveys a great deal about the exhibit complex to which it pertains.
The guidebook opens with a fairly substantial segment on the history of the aquarium at Zoo Frankfurt, from when it opened in 1877 until 1944 when it was all-but destroyed by bombing during WWII, with the remaining structures and those cisterns and reservoirs which remained being used as the foundations on which the new and expanded Exotarium building was built, going on to describe the construction of the Exotarium and the gradual addition of more and more supplementary exhibits surrounding the house - culminating in the opening of an exhibit for Elephant Seal in the months leading up to the publication of this guidebook. Given how often I have remarked upon the importance I place in the publication of content relating to the history and development of a collection within its zoo guidebooks, one will probably be unsurprised to hear that I am rather taken with this section; however, even with this taken into account I think that this is definitely one of the better examples of this kind of material, being surpassed only by the lengthy historical discussions which occur within the guidebooks published by Zoo Berlin in the late 19th and early 20th century. This section also illustrates an important historical point about the Exotarium, which is even more significant given the fact that it is still open now, over 60 years since the publication of this guidebook; to wit, although substantially changed over the years this is the oldest exhibit still in use at Zoo Frankfurt.
The next portion of the guidebook comprises a walkthrough account of the Exotarium, detailing the three distinct segments within; firstly, the Klima-Landschaften, a hall containing two large climate-controlled exhibits depicting a polar landscape and a tropical rainforest respectively, and which judging from the photographs and descriptions within (along with my own memories of visiting Zoo Frankfurt myself in 2018 alongside @lintworm ) has changed very little in the decades following the publication of this guidebook; secondly, the main Aquarium hall within the remaining ground floor portions of the Exotarium, discussing some of the exhibits within and the view into the water cisterns below the Exotarium; and finally the various terraria and larger exhibits extending throughout the upper floor of the building, displaying a wide variety of reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates. One of the most appealing aspects of this section is the detail which it goes into regarding the general construction and design of the exhibits under discussion, such as temperature control, the quantity of water within the reservoirs and cisterns, and the glass used within the tanks and exhibits. As I will discuss at greater length anon, this is the sort of background information I find particularly valuable in a guidebook.
Beyond here, the guidebook moves into a wider discussion of the species held within the Exotarium, divided into the various groups in question and in the rough order they would be encountered by the visitor to the exhibit complex, including the penguins present within the entrance area and the various pinniped species located within a series of pools extending south of the Exotarium building itself; these accounts are fairly well-illustrated with black-and-white images of the animals displayed within the Exotarium, but the text primarily only refers to species in the broadest terms, seldom mentioning exact taxa.
The final segment of the guidebook represents an in-depth discussion of the engineering, mechanisms and other technical aspects responsible for the operation and maintenance of the Exotarium; as noted above, and elsewhere in this thread, this kind of information is something which I feel more zoological guidebooks should contain, but which - particularly at this level of detail - is vanishingly rare, with few guidebooks even touching on the subject nowadays. This extends from a list of how many pumps, motors, cisterns, ventilation systems, thermostats and other such mechanisms were present within the Exotarium at the time of publication, to discussion of the total water capacity of the reservoirs, cisterns and tanks within the overall structure, the operation and design of the filtration systems in use within the various freshwater and saltwater exhibits within the aquarium hall, and even discussing the differing materials required for the correct operation and maintenance of these systems depending on temperature, salinity and water pressure. As such, this is without a shadow of a doubt the most detailed discussion of factors such as these I have encountered within a zoo guidebook - to the point that, if I have enough time and mental energy at some point in the future, I think it would be of value for me to translate this section in full and post it within the SpecZoo forum as a resource for anyone wishing to design a speculative aquarium.
This level of methodical attention to detail is reflected in the rather excellent pair of maps present within the central pages of this guidebook, comprising detailed and fully-labelled blueprints of the Exotarium building both from a top-down view, showing the size, relative possession and contents of the various exhibits within the Exotarium along with supplementary structures such as quarantine tanks, technical and engineering areas and office areas for zoo staff, and in cross-section; the latter of these, as one can imagine, also shows those structures located both underneath the public areas of the Exotarium and in the central tower of the building.
Overall, then, this is perhaps one of the best guidebooks I have discussed within this thread in terms of technical detail provided, and hence the value that it would hold for those inclined to speculative zoo exhibit design along with anyone interested in the detailed and specialist aspects pertaining to the operation of a zoological collection; the level of information presented relating to the zoological collection within the Exotarium is somewhat less detailed, although nonetheless interesting and relating a reasonably large amount of information.... and of course, the fact that this comprises an entire guidebook devoted to a single exhibit complex within a zoological collection means that it presents far more information about said complex than would be found in a guidebook discussing a zoological collection in its entirety.
I think this one has a lot of scope for discussion, feedback and questions - so fire away!
Page count: 24
Photographs: 22 black-and-white photographs.
Illustrations/diagrams: N/A
Layout: Introduction and history of Exotarium, followed by walkthrough account and general discussion of species groups displayed within.
Map: Pair of maps in central pages, showing plan of Exotarium and cross-section of overall building.
A very interesting item today, representing something of a counterpart to the guidebook we discussed earlier this week pertaining to the Zoo-Aquarium in Berlin; the Exotarium at Zoo Frankfurt is, in many ways, one of the two exhibit complexes in Germany which come closest to rivalling said structure in scope and diversity, alongside the aquarium at Zoo Köln. Like the aquariums at both Berlin and Köln, the Exotarium charged a separate entrance fee beyond that required to enter the parent collection - one reason, perhaps, why a distinct guidebook was long produced for all three exhibits. Now, of course, only the exhibit at Zoo Berlin requires a distinct entrance fee, whilst all three collections have abandoned the production of guidebooks entirely. The first thing that needs to be said is that the cover artwork of this item - both on the front and rear of the guidebook - is extremely attractive and eye-catching, as one can see from the above images; particularly where the rear cover is concerned, it provides an immediate impression of the wide range of species displayed within the Exotarium, across many different animal groups. As such, even before one starts to read the guidebook, it conveys a great deal about the exhibit complex to which it pertains.
The guidebook opens with a fairly substantial segment on the history of the aquarium at Zoo Frankfurt, from when it opened in 1877 until 1944 when it was all-but destroyed by bombing during WWII, with the remaining structures and those cisterns and reservoirs which remained being used as the foundations on which the new and expanded Exotarium building was built, going on to describe the construction of the Exotarium and the gradual addition of more and more supplementary exhibits surrounding the house - culminating in the opening of an exhibit for Elephant Seal in the months leading up to the publication of this guidebook. Given how often I have remarked upon the importance I place in the publication of content relating to the history and development of a collection within its zoo guidebooks, one will probably be unsurprised to hear that I am rather taken with this section; however, even with this taken into account I think that this is definitely one of the better examples of this kind of material, being surpassed only by the lengthy historical discussions which occur within the guidebooks published by Zoo Berlin in the late 19th and early 20th century. This section also illustrates an important historical point about the Exotarium, which is even more significant given the fact that it is still open now, over 60 years since the publication of this guidebook; to wit, although substantially changed over the years this is the oldest exhibit still in use at Zoo Frankfurt.
The next portion of the guidebook comprises a walkthrough account of the Exotarium, detailing the three distinct segments within; firstly, the Klima-Landschaften, a hall containing two large climate-controlled exhibits depicting a polar landscape and a tropical rainforest respectively, and which judging from the photographs and descriptions within (along with my own memories of visiting Zoo Frankfurt myself in 2018 alongside @lintworm ) has changed very little in the decades following the publication of this guidebook; secondly, the main Aquarium hall within the remaining ground floor portions of the Exotarium, discussing some of the exhibits within and the view into the water cisterns below the Exotarium; and finally the various terraria and larger exhibits extending throughout the upper floor of the building, displaying a wide variety of reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates. One of the most appealing aspects of this section is the detail which it goes into regarding the general construction and design of the exhibits under discussion, such as temperature control, the quantity of water within the reservoirs and cisterns, and the glass used within the tanks and exhibits. As I will discuss at greater length anon, this is the sort of background information I find particularly valuable in a guidebook.
Beyond here, the guidebook moves into a wider discussion of the species held within the Exotarium, divided into the various groups in question and in the rough order they would be encountered by the visitor to the exhibit complex, including the penguins present within the entrance area and the various pinniped species located within a series of pools extending south of the Exotarium building itself; these accounts are fairly well-illustrated with black-and-white images of the animals displayed within the Exotarium, but the text primarily only refers to species in the broadest terms, seldom mentioning exact taxa.
The final segment of the guidebook represents an in-depth discussion of the engineering, mechanisms and other technical aspects responsible for the operation and maintenance of the Exotarium; as noted above, and elsewhere in this thread, this kind of information is something which I feel more zoological guidebooks should contain, but which - particularly at this level of detail - is vanishingly rare, with few guidebooks even touching on the subject nowadays. This extends from a list of how many pumps, motors, cisterns, ventilation systems, thermostats and other such mechanisms were present within the Exotarium at the time of publication, to discussion of the total water capacity of the reservoirs, cisterns and tanks within the overall structure, the operation and design of the filtration systems in use within the various freshwater and saltwater exhibits within the aquarium hall, and even discussing the differing materials required for the correct operation and maintenance of these systems depending on temperature, salinity and water pressure. As such, this is without a shadow of a doubt the most detailed discussion of factors such as these I have encountered within a zoo guidebook - to the point that, if I have enough time and mental energy at some point in the future, I think it would be of value for me to translate this section in full and post it within the SpecZoo forum as a resource for anyone wishing to design a speculative aquarium.
This level of methodical attention to detail is reflected in the rather excellent pair of maps present within the central pages of this guidebook, comprising detailed and fully-labelled blueprints of the Exotarium building both from a top-down view, showing the size, relative possession and contents of the various exhibits within the Exotarium along with supplementary structures such as quarantine tanks, technical and engineering areas and office areas for zoo staff, and in cross-section; the latter of these, as one can imagine, also shows those structures located both underneath the public areas of the Exotarium and in the central tower of the building.
Overall, then, this is perhaps one of the best guidebooks I have discussed within this thread in terms of technical detail provided, and hence the value that it would hold for those inclined to speculative zoo exhibit design along with anyone interested in the detailed and specialist aspects pertaining to the operation of a zoological collection; the level of information presented relating to the zoological collection within the Exotarium is somewhat less detailed, although nonetheless interesting and relating a reasonably large amount of information.... and of course, the fact that this comprises an entire guidebook devoted to a single exhibit complex within a zoological collection means that it presents far more information about said complex than would be found in a guidebook discussing a zoological collection in its entirety.
I think this one has a lot of scope for discussion, feedback and questions - so fire away!
The Exotarium is one of my biggest zoo regrets. When I visited Frankfurt Zoo in 2004 I was most looking forward to the Grzimek House, the Bird House, and the Exotarium (all familiar to me from my zoo books and the IZY). However there was still an entrance fee on the Exotarium so I didn't go in there. I can't remember what the price was - it was probably some small amount, but when travelling even small amounts can seem prohibitive in the moment. And of course for ever after you're left thinking "why didn't I just pay that small amount?"
When I visited the Exotarium in 1985, I thought the most unusual animal was an ajotle. Despite several visits to its enclosure. I never saw it, nor have I seen an ajotle exhibit since.
Could be because Frankfurt was one of only 2 zoos in Europe which had Ajotles and the only one which kept the Baslas species. London kept the closely related Five-toed ajotle but that was around 1965.
Interesting - I had actually thought the entrance fee had been dropped in the mid-1990s, so I am somewhat surprised to hear it was retained a decade longer than I realised!
Amphisbaenians in general seem to be vanishingly uncommon in captivity....
I think someone has said that to me before (may have been you). All I know about that is that when I went there was an entry fee, so I didn't pay it because I'm an idiot. I had to just make do with seeing a Picathartes in the bird house. Sad face.
Swings and roundabouts then
odds are that you missed nothing in the Exotarium quite as unusual or special as the Rockfowl, so I reckon you still got the best end of the deal!
Actually I almost missed that as well! I had been round the whole zoo (apart for the Exotarium) and was ready to go when I suddenly realised I hadn't seen the Bird House yet - and then I couldn't find it! I can't remember now what the problem was but something to do with the entrance being hidden or not obvious in some way. That would have been a major blow.Swings and roundabouts then
Day 43: Zoo Berlin (1901) - Flamingo and Toucan
Page count: 112 (including several pages of advertisements at rear of guidebook)
Photographs: 24 black-and-white photographs.
Illustrations/diagrams: 3 ornate illustrations used as de-facto "chapter headings" at key points
Layout: Comprehensive walkthrough account of collection.
Map: Fold-out at rear of guidebook
Another of the particular highlights of my guidebook collection today, and the first published at Zoo Berlin during the 20th century; this is a rather fragile item, which has been carefully and methodically repaired at some point in the past in what appears to have been a professional job, with a number of damaged or missing pages having been replaced near-seamlessly barring an absence of age-related discolouration, and the spine having been reinforced. Relatively unusually, I know more detail about the provenance of this item than is usually the case when purchasing second-hand guidebooks online, and therefore have a reasonably-good idea of who may have originally paid for the repairs in question; I obtained this particular guidebook - after several years searching for a copy of the 1901 edition - by bidding online during the most recent of the semi-regular auctions held by Dr Klaus Schüling, the German academic publisher and antiquarian book dealer of whom I have spoken in the past. Along with the "usual" material, around 100 auction lots comprised a selection of items from the estate of the recently-deceased guidebook collector Michael Amend - known by many names over the decade he was a member of this community, most notably @Zebraduiker and @Bib Fortuna - including this particular guidebook.
As I have noted previously, the font used in these earlier guidebooks published by Zoo Berlin is very ornate and difficult to read, especially for someone not particularly fluent in German to begin with, but is nonetheless rather attractive to look at and rather accentuates the overall "feel" of the book as a whole. As with the 1899 guidebook which immediately preceded the publication of this particular edition, the guidebook more or less comprises a comprehensive walkthrough account of the collection, with a detailed historical account relating to the development of the collection over the half-century since it had first opened; given the fragility of both items, the fact that (as I discussed previously) my copy of the 1899 guidebook is currently being repaired by my father, and the aforementioned difficulty in parsing the typeface within both items, I have not as yet been able to translate anything more than scattered sentences from this historical discussion, let alone work out whether or not the discussion here differs at all from that found in the earlier guidebook. However - again as I have mentioned in the past - I am gradually trying to get to grips with the archaic typeface in question, and improve my general level of fluency in reading German full-stop, as uld very much like to be able to translate the historical information within for the reference and general interest of the wider Anglophone zoo enthusiast community!
Unfortunately, due to the extremely-tight replacement binding, along with the fragility of the pages themselves making me loathe to handle the guidebook too roughly, it proved too difficult for me to scan the interior pages of this guidebook as I usually would; therefore I have taken digital photographs of selected pages. This is less-than-ideal, naturally, given the difficulty in producing a consistent level of focus and lighting when holding the guidebook open with one hand and using the camera in the other - but short of omitting any interior images, this is nonetheless the best course of action available.
The main body of the guidebook, as can be seen in the surrounding images, comprises a methodical and detailed walkthrough account of the collection, detailing all major exhibits and houses and providing copious information on the species held within, much as was the case in the 1899 guidebook of which I have already spoken. However, one major difference between this guidebook and its predecessor is that, whilst the 1899 edition was copiously illustrated throughout, this edition contains very few illustrations indeed; merely three decorative title banners located at the start of the guidebook itself, before the discussion of the bird house, and before the discussion of the elephant house. However, the level of detail within this guidebook as regards the descriptions of the exhibits and the species held within is once again extremely high. For whatever reason, the taxonomic names listed within these species accounts are presented in a significantly more legible typeface, and therefore it is reasonably easy to piece together a list of those taxa discussed within the guidebook; although nowhere near a comprehensive list of the species collection at the time of publication, these accounts nonetheless are significantly more complete than those found in the majority of modern-day guidebooks. At the time of publication, the species collection at Zoo Berlin included a number of taxa which are now extinct - such as Javan Tiger, Glaucous Macaw and Schomburgk's Deer - as such the exhibit and species accounts represent a highly-significant document of zoo history.... quite apart from the fact that the Zoo Berlin described here is a collection which, a little over a generation later, would be all-but-destroyed by the ravages of war.
Beyond here, the guidebook presents several pages showing a wide range of black-and-white photographs taken at the zoo, both of some of the most notable structures and buildings throughout the collection, and select species displayed within; this was the first time that photographic material was present within one of the guidebooks published at Zoo Berlin, and established a general format which would be followed for almost thirty years. As I noted previously, the landscape of the zoo would change completely during WWII, with the vast majority of the houses and exhibits described within this guidebook destroyed or severely damaged; as such, the photographs presented here are possibly one of the most interesting aspects of the entire guidebook, representing as they do a key record of these structures and exhibits at their height. Therefore, it strikes me as appropriate to reproduce some of the most interesting of these images before briefly touching on those photographs provided of species held at the time of publication.
The first of these images shows the old Elephant House; although completely destroyed during WWII, the pagoda for Indian Rhinoceros currently being constructed at Zoo Berlin has been specifically designed to homage the overall aesthetic of this structure, albeit at a significantly larger scale. Similarly, the Elephant Gate visible in the second of these photographs is *not* the structure which is now present at the entrance to the collection - which represents a late 1980s construction intended to belatedly replace the original gate, which again was lost during the ravages of the war. The final image shows the largest - and most ornate - of the houses and stables located within the deer complex at the zoo; I am fairly certain that this particular structure did not survive the war, even as a destroyed shell, as it appears to have completely disappeared from those collection maps released in the years immediately following WWII, although several of the houses within this area not only survived relatively intact but were still present at Zoo Berlin and still in use as deer housing into the last decade.
Perhaps the most interesting of the photographic spreads depicting a variety of the species displayed within the collection at the time of publication is the below image; not only are modern-day oddities such as African Forest Elephant and Bush Pig present, but moreover the iconic image of the Schomburgk's Deer located within the Zoo Berlin collection in the opening years of the 20th century is published here for - as far as I have been able to determine - the very first time. This photograph is often claimed online to have been taken in 1911, even elsewhere on Zoochat; one wonders where this claim originates, given the fact that the presence of this photograph within not only this guidebook but several of the editions which would follow over the course of the next decade provides conclusive proof that the truth is otherwise.
The guidebook concludes - as do the vast majority of the Zoo Berlin guidebooks from the opening decades of the 20th century - with a highly-detailed and frankly gorgeous fold-out map of the collection; these fold-out maps all follow the same layout and design across different editions, which vastly increases ease-of-reference when examining them and attempting to observe the way in which Zoo Berlin developed and grew over these pivotal decades. As such, these maps represent not only an attractive and interesting item of aesthetic and artistic merit, but also a highly valuable resource for the zoo historian, or indeed anyone with an interest in Zoo Berlin.
I suspect I have left a vast amount of scope for questions and feedback this time round - for instance, if anyone wants me to give more detail about the species held in a given exhibit, or which members of a given taxonomic group are listed within the guidebook, I would be more than happy to oblige! In the meantime, it goes without saying that this is one of the greatest treasures in my guidebook collection, one of the most interesting and valuable both as a zoological document and a historical record, and an extremely high-quality book which I have spent many an hour poring over in detail.
Page count: 112 (including several pages of advertisements at rear of guidebook)
Photographs: 24 black-and-white photographs.
Illustrations/diagrams: 3 ornate illustrations used as de-facto "chapter headings" at key points
Layout: Comprehensive walkthrough account of collection.
Map: Fold-out at rear of guidebook
Another of the particular highlights of my guidebook collection today, and the first published at Zoo Berlin during the 20th century; this is a rather fragile item, which has been carefully and methodically repaired at some point in the past in what appears to have been a professional job, with a number of damaged or missing pages having been replaced near-seamlessly barring an absence of age-related discolouration, and the spine having been reinforced. Relatively unusually, I know more detail about the provenance of this item than is usually the case when purchasing second-hand guidebooks online, and therefore have a reasonably-good idea of who may have originally paid for the repairs in question; I obtained this particular guidebook - after several years searching for a copy of the 1901 edition - by bidding online during the most recent of the semi-regular auctions held by Dr Klaus Schüling, the German academic publisher and antiquarian book dealer of whom I have spoken in the past. Along with the "usual" material, around 100 auction lots comprised a selection of items from the estate of the recently-deceased guidebook collector Michael Amend - known by many names over the decade he was a member of this community, most notably @Zebraduiker and @Bib Fortuna - including this particular guidebook.
As I have noted previously, the font used in these earlier guidebooks published by Zoo Berlin is very ornate and difficult to read, especially for someone not particularly fluent in German to begin with, but is nonetheless rather attractive to look at and rather accentuates the overall "feel" of the book as a whole. As with the 1899 guidebook which immediately preceded the publication of this particular edition, the guidebook more or less comprises a comprehensive walkthrough account of the collection, with a detailed historical account relating to the development of the collection over the half-century since it had first opened; given the fragility of both items, the fact that (as I discussed previously) my copy of the 1899 guidebook is currently being repaired by my father, and the aforementioned difficulty in parsing the typeface within both items, I have not as yet been able to translate anything more than scattered sentences from this historical discussion, let alone work out whether or not the discussion here differs at all from that found in the earlier guidebook. However - again as I have mentioned in the past - I am gradually trying to get to grips with the archaic typeface in question, and improve my general level of fluency in reading German full-stop, as uld very much like to be able to translate the historical information within for the reference and general interest of the wider Anglophone zoo enthusiast community!
Unfortunately, due to the extremely-tight replacement binding, along with the fragility of the pages themselves making me loathe to handle the guidebook too roughly, it proved too difficult for me to scan the interior pages of this guidebook as I usually would; therefore I have taken digital photographs of selected pages. This is less-than-ideal, naturally, given the difficulty in producing a consistent level of focus and lighting when holding the guidebook open with one hand and using the camera in the other - but short of omitting any interior images, this is nonetheless the best course of action available.
The main body of the guidebook, as can be seen in the surrounding images, comprises a methodical and detailed walkthrough account of the collection, detailing all major exhibits and houses and providing copious information on the species held within, much as was the case in the 1899 guidebook of which I have already spoken. However, one major difference between this guidebook and its predecessor is that, whilst the 1899 edition was copiously illustrated throughout, this edition contains very few illustrations indeed; merely three decorative title banners located at the start of the guidebook itself, before the discussion of the bird house, and before the discussion of the elephant house. However, the level of detail within this guidebook as regards the descriptions of the exhibits and the species held within is once again extremely high. For whatever reason, the taxonomic names listed within these species accounts are presented in a significantly more legible typeface, and therefore it is reasonably easy to piece together a list of those taxa discussed within the guidebook; although nowhere near a comprehensive list of the species collection at the time of publication, these accounts nonetheless are significantly more complete than those found in the majority of modern-day guidebooks. At the time of publication, the species collection at Zoo Berlin included a number of taxa which are now extinct - such as Javan Tiger, Glaucous Macaw and Schomburgk's Deer - as such the exhibit and species accounts represent a highly-significant document of zoo history.... quite apart from the fact that the Zoo Berlin described here is a collection which, a little over a generation later, would be all-but-destroyed by the ravages of war.
Beyond here, the guidebook presents several pages showing a wide range of black-and-white photographs taken at the zoo, both of some of the most notable structures and buildings throughout the collection, and select species displayed within; this was the first time that photographic material was present within one of the guidebooks published at Zoo Berlin, and established a general format which would be followed for almost thirty years. As I noted previously, the landscape of the zoo would change completely during WWII, with the vast majority of the houses and exhibits described within this guidebook destroyed or severely damaged; as such, the photographs presented here are possibly one of the most interesting aspects of the entire guidebook, representing as they do a key record of these structures and exhibits at their height. Therefore, it strikes me as appropriate to reproduce some of the most interesting of these images before briefly touching on those photographs provided of species held at the time of publication.
The first of these images shows the old Elephant House; although completely destroyed during WWII, the pagoda for Indian Rhinoceros currently being constructed at Zoo Berlin has been specifically designed to homage the overall aesthetic of this structure, albeit at a significantly larger scale. Similarly, the Elephant Gate visible in the second of these photographs is *not* the structure which is now present at the entrance to the collection - which represents a late 1980s construction intended to belatedly replace the original gate, which again was lost during the ravages of the war. The final image shows the largest - and most ornate - of the houses and stables located within the deer complex at the zoo; I am fairly certain that this particular structure did not survive the war, even as a destroyed shell, as it appears to have completely disappeared from those collection maps released in the years immediately following WWII, although several of the houses within this area not only survived relatively intact but were still present at Zoo Berlin and still in use as deer housing into the last decade.
Perhaps the most interesting of the photographic spreads depicting a variety of the species displayed within the collection at the time of publication is the below image; not only are modern-day oddities such as African Forest Elephant and Bush Pig present, but moreover the iconic image of the Schomburgk's Deer located within the Zoo Berlin collection in the opening years of the 20th century is published here for - as far as I have been able to determine - the very first time. This photograph is often claimed online to have been taken in 1911, even elsewhere on Zoochat; one wonders where this claim originates, given the fact that the presence of this photograph within not only this guidebook but several of the editions which would follow over the course of the next decade provides conclusive proof that the truth is otherwise.
The guidebook concludes - as do the vast majority of the Zoo Berlin guidebooks from the opening decades of the 20th century - with a highly-detailed and frankly gorgeous fold-out map of the collection; these fold-out maps all follow the same layout and design across different editions, which vastly increases ease-of-reference when examining them and attempting to observe the way in which Zoo Berlin developed and grew over these pivotal decades. As such, these maps represent not only an attractive and interesting item of aesthetic and artistic merit, but also a highly valuable resource for the zoo historian, or indeed anyone with an interest in Zoo Berlin.
I suspect I have left a vast amount of scope for questions and feedback this time round - for instance, if anyone wants me to give more detail about the species held in a given exhibit, or which members of a given taxonomic group are listed within the guidebook, I would be more than happy to oblige! In the meantime, it goes without saying that this is one of the greatest treasures in my guidebook collection, one of the most interesting and valuable both as a zoological document and a historical record, and an extremely high-quality book which I have spent many an hour poring over in detail.
Not animal related, but interesting, I noted both on the map from this guide and previously the provision for lawn tennis and also the terminus of a horse tramway. The Bristol Zoo guide map provided previously also showed considerable provision for lawn tennis. It is interesting to reflect that people used to head off for a day at the zoo with tennis racquet in hand (or maybe they could hire gear on the spot?).Day 43: Zoo Berlin (1901) - Flamingo and Toucan
Page count: 112 (including several pages of advertisements at rear of guidebook)
Photographs: 24 black-and-white photographs.
Illustrations/diagrams: 3 ornate illustrations used as de-facto "chapter headings" at key points
Layout: Comprehensive walkthrough account of collection.
Map: Fold-out at rear of guidebook
Another of the particular highlights of my guidebook collection today, and the first published at Zoo Berlin during the 20th century; this is a rather fragile item, which has been carefully and methodically repaired at some point in the past in what appears to have been a professional job, with a number of damaged or missing pages having been replaced near-seamlessly barring an absence of age-related discolouration, and the spine having been reinforced. Relatively unusually, I know more detail about the provenance of this item than is usually the case when purchasing second-hand guidebooks online, and therefore have a reasonably-good idea of who may have originally paid for the repairs in question; I obtained this particular guidebook - after several years searching for a copy of the 1901 edition - by bidding online during the most recent of the semi-regular auctions held by Dr Klaus Schüling, the German academic publisher and antiquarian book dealer of whom I have spoken in the past. Along with the "usual" material, around 100 auction lots comprised a selection of items from the estate of the recently-deceased guidebook collector Michael Amend - known by many names over the decade he was a member of this community, most notably @Zebraduiker and @Bib Fortuna - including this particular guidebook.
As I have noted previously, the font used in these earlier guidebooks published by Zoo Berlin is very ornate and difficult to read, especially for someone not particularly fluent in German to begin with, but is nonetheless rather attractive to look at and rather accentuates the overall "feel" of the book as a whole. As with the 1899 guidebook which immediately preceded the publication of this particular edition, the guidebook more or less comprises a comprehensive walkthrough account of the collection, with a detailed historical account relating to the development of the collection over the half-century since it had first opened; given the fragility of both items, the fact that (as I discussed previously) my copy of the 1899 guidebook is currently being repaired by my father, and the aforementioned difficulty in parsing the typeface within both items, I have not as yet been able to translate anything more than scattered sentences from this historical discussion, let alone work out whether or not the discussion here differs at all from that found in the earlier guidebook. However - again as I have mentioned in the past - I am gradually trying to get to grips with the archaic typeface in question, and improve my general level of fluency in reading German full-stop, as uld very much like to be able to translate the historical information within for the reference and general interest of the wider Anglophone zoo enthusiast community!
Unfortunately, due to the extremely-tight replacement binding, along with the fragility of the pages themselves making me loathe to handle the guidebook too roughly, it proved too difficult for me to scan the interior pages of this guidebook as I usually would; therefore I have taken digital photographs of selected pages. This is less-than-ideal, naturally, given the difficulty in producing a consistent level of focus and lighting when holding the guidebook open with one hand and using the camera in the other - but short of omitting any interior images, this is nonetheless the best course of action available.
The main body of the guidebook, as can be seen in the surrounding images, comprises a methodical and detailed walkthrough account of the collection, detailing all major exhibits and houses and providing copious information on the species held within, much as was the case in the 1899 guidebook of which I have already spoken. However, one major difference between this guidebook and its predecessor is that, whilst the 1899 edition was copiously illustrated throughout, this edition contains very few illustrations indeed; merely three decorative title banners located at the start of the guidebook itself, before the discussion of the bird house, and before the discussion of the elephant house. However, the level of detail within this guidebook as regards the descriptions of the exhibits and the species held within is once again extremely high. For whatever reason, the taxonomic names listed within these species accounts are presented in a significantly more legible typeface, and therefore it is reasonably easy to piece together a list of those taxa discussed within the guidebook; although nowhere near a comprehensive list of the species collection at the time of publication, these accounts nonetheless are significantly more complete than those found in the majority of modern-day guidebooks. At the time of publication, the species collection at Zoo Berlin included a number of taxa which are now extinct - such as Javan Tiger, Glaucous Macaw and Schomburgk's Deer - as such the exhibit and species accounts represent a highly-significant document of zoo history.... quite apart from the fact that the Zoo Berlin described here is a collection which, a little over a generation later, would be all-but-destroyed by the ravages of war.
Beyond here, the guidebook presents several pages showing a wide range of black-and-white photographs taken at the zoo, both of some of the most notable structures and buildings throughout the collection, and select species displayed within; this was the first time that photographic material was present within one of the guidebooks published at Zoo Berlin, and established a general format which would be followed for almost thirty years. As I noted previously, the landscape of the zoo would change completely during WWII, with the vast majority of the houses and exhibits described within this guidebook destroyed or severely damaged; as such, the photographs presented here are possibly one of the most interesting aspects of the entire guidebook, representing as they do a key record of these structures and exhibits at their height. Therefore, it strikes me as appropriate to reproduce some of the most interesting of these images before briefly touching on those photographs provided of species held at the time of publication.
The first of these images shows the old Elephant House; although completely destroyed during WWII, the pagoda for Indian Rhinoceros currently being constructed at Zoo Berlin has been specifically designed to homage the overall aesthetic of this structure, albeit at a significantly larger scale. Similarly, the Elephant Gate visible in the second of these photographs is *not* the structure which is now present at the entrance to the collection - which represents a late 1980s construction intended to belatedly replace the original gate, which again was lost during the ravages of the war. The final image shows the largest - and most ornate - of the houses and stables located within the deer complex at the zoo; I am fairly certain that this particular structure did not survive the war, even as a destroyed shell, as it appears to have completely disappeared from those collection maps released in the years immediately following WWII, although several of the houses within this area not only survived relatively intact but were still present at Zoo Berlin and still in use as deer housing into the last decade.
Perhaps the most interesting of the photographic spreads depicting a variety of the species displayed within the collection at the time of publication is the below image; not only are modern-day oddities such as African Forest Elephant and Bush Pig present, but moreover the iconic image of the Schomburgk's Deer located within the Zoo Berlin collection in the opening years of the 20th century is published here for - as far as I have been able to determine - the very first time. This photograph is often claimed online to have been taken in 1911, even elsewhere on Zoochat; one wonders where this claim originates, given the fact that the presence of this photograph within not only this guidebook but several of the editions which would follow over the course of the next decade provides conclusive proof that the truth is otherwise.
The guidebook concludes - as do the vast majority of the Zoo Berlin guidebooks from the opening decades of the 20th century - with a highly-detailed and frankly gorgeous fold-out map of the collection; these fold-out maps all follow the same layout and design across different editions, which vastly increases ease-of-reference when examining them and attempting to observe the way in which Zoo Berlin developed and grew over these pivotal decades. As such, these maps represent not only an attractive and interesting item of aesthetic and artistic merit, but also a highly valuable resource for the zoo historian, or indeed anyone with an interest in Zoo Berlin.
I suspect I have left a vast amount of scope for questions and feedback this time round - for instance, if anyone wants me to give more detail about the species held in a given exhibit, or which members of a given taxonomic group are listed within the guidebook, I would be more than happy to oblige! In the meantime, it goes without saying that this is one of the greatest treasures in my guidebook collection, one of the most interesting and valuable both as a zoological document and a historical record, and an extremely high-quality book which I have spent many an hour poring over in detail.
