ZSL London Zoo London Zoo Book (New in 2012)

snowleopard

snowleopard

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15+ year member
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London Zoo: from old photographs 1852-1914 (second edition) is a brilliant addition to my zoological treasure trove of books. Featuring around 400 photos on 300 pages, and in a gorgeous hardcover format, it is well worth the investment and all zoo enthusiasts should not hesitate to part with their money for this purchase. Of course Jumbo is there in all of his glory, but there are many other delights along the way. A Saiga Antelope (circa 1868), Sumatran Rhino photos, images of Quaggas and 8 pages of Thylacine photos are fantastic to see and the rich history of ZSL is carefully arranged and illuminated for all zoo fans. There are even 7 different maps at the back of the book and each one is large and spread over two pages. Also, there is also a substantial amount of text accompanying the photos and thus it is not simply a picture book.

Buy it now!

Independent Zoo Enthusiasts Society
 
Having picked up both editions in the last fortnight, I can echo the praise given for this book by @snowleopard completely :D I do have one slight complaint about the second edition when compared to the first, however; the proof-reading for the accompanying text seems to have missed quite a lot of rather amusingly-bad errors which crept in where the content of the text was altered between editions.

For instance, the text discussing an excellent photograph of Mediterranean Monk Seal taken in the mid-1880s contains the following paragraph in the 1996 edition:

"This photograph had been incorrectly labelled by the photographer as a Greenland Seal (Pagophilus groenlandicus). It was correctly identified by Douglas Richardson, Curator of Mammals, at London Zoo"

This paragraph is somewhat edited in the 2012 edition and now reads as follows:

"This photograph was originally incorrectly identified as a 'Greenland Seal' i.e. Harp Seal. The correct identification was made by Douglas Richardson (Pagophilus groenlandicus) when Curator of Mammals at London Zoo in 1995."

Taken at face value, this would imply that Highland Wildlife Park - where Richardson is currently the Collection Manager - is the only UK collection containing a Harp Seal :p
 
TeaLovingDave said:
Having picked up both editions in the last fortnight, I can echo the praise given for this book by @snowleopard completely :D I do have one slight complaint about the second edition when compared to the first, however; the proof-reading for the accompanying text seems to have missed quite a lot of rather amusingly-bad errors which crept in where the content of the text was altered between editions.

For instance, the text discussing an excellent photograph of Mediterranean Monk Seal taken in the mid-1880s contains the following paragraph in the 1996 edition:

"This photograph had been incorrectly labelled by the photographer as a Greenland Seal (Pagophilus groenlandicus). It was correctly identified by Douglas Richardson, Curator of Mammals, at London Zoo"

This paragraph is somewhat edited in the 2012 edition and now reads as follows:

"This photograph was originally incorrectly identified as a 'Greenland Seal' i.e. Harp Seal. The correct identification was made by Douglas Richardson (Pagophilus groenlandicus) when Curator of Mammals at London Zoo in 1995."

Taken at face value, this would imply that Highland Wildlife Park - where Richardson is currently the Collection Manager - is the only UK collection containing a Harp Seal :p
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Very clever!! Though you are technically correct!
 
Ah, but as Futurama has taught us, technically correct is the best kind of correct!
 
TeaLovingDave said:
"This photograph was originally incorrectly identified as a 'Greenland Seal' i.e. Harp Seal. The correct identification was made by Douglas Richardson (Pagophilus groenlandicus) when Curator of Mammals at London Zoo in 1995." Taken at face value, this would imply that Highland Wildlife Park - where Richardson is currently the Collection Manager - is the only UK collection containing a Harp Seal :p
Click to expand...

Taken at face value, this would imply that Highland Wildlife Park is the only UK collection managed by a harp seal.
 
Is the elephant on the front cover Jumbo? He really is huge, although the howdah probably adds to the effect.
 
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