Zoo History Books

Few books on zoo history in Spanish + one in Catalan

- Buenos Aires Zoo, 1888-1998, 110o Aniversario Jardin Zoologico De La Ciudad De Buenos Aires, Primera Edicion, Octobre 1998, large size, sc., 129pp., Cover- with 28 small, square color pictures, in six rows; [ 110th anniversary of Buenos Aires Zoo in Argentina]
- Fernando Martinéz Réding, El Zoológico De Guadalajara, Ayuntamiento De Guadalajara 1986-1988, Exls.,Sq., 88pp., Hard Covers With No Jacket, Cover - visitors standing on the wooden bridge at free-flight aviary full page colour photo; [ book about two years of building the new Zoo in Guadalajara, Mexico]
- El Zoológico De Chapultepec 75 Años De Historia, Primera Edición 1998, Ls., 61+pp., Cover- with colour photo of the green macaw; [75th anniversary of Chapultepec Zoo in Mexico City, Mexico]
- Emili Pons, El Parc Zoologic de Barcelona. Cent anys d’historia, edicions 62, Barcelona,1992, 239pages, hc.+ jacket; [100 years of Barcelona Zoo history, in Catalan language ! ]
- Memorias del zoo de Valencia, Ignacio Docavo Alberti, 2001, Diputacio de Valencia, hc, 279pages, cover-different animals and author col.photos; [ notes from the history of old Valencia Zoo]
 
Jacobea said:
I stumbled across this book by accident :) It looks pretty interesting, and the site's good and safe to download from.

Internet Archive: Details: The Zoological Society of London : a sketch of its foundation and development, and the story of its farm, museum, gardens, menagerie and library
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There are an enormous number of books about London Zoo.

The book that you refer to “The Zoological Society of London : a Sketch of its Foundation and Development, and the Story of its Farm, Museum, Gardens, Menagerie and Library” (Henry Scherren; 1905) is probably my favourite out of those I have.

Other early books, that I thoroughly recommend to anybody interested in the history of London Zoo, are:-

“A Record of Progress of the Zoological Society of London During the Nineteenth Century” (1901)

“A Centenary History of the Zoological Society of London” (P. Chalmers Mitchell; 1929)

“List of the Vertebrated Animals Exhibited in the Gardens of the Zoological Society of London 1828 – 1927: Centenary Edition in 3 volumes.” (1929)
Vol 1 Mammals (by S. S. Flower)
Vol 2 Birds (by G. Carmichael Low)
Vol 3 Reptiles (by S. S. Flower); Amphibians (by Malcolm A. Smith); Fishes (by E.G. Boulenger).

Unfortunately the above books are scarce and tend to be very expensive.

A more recent book (but still over half-a-century old) is “The Zoo Story” (L. R. Brightwell; 1952). This is not so scholarly as those mentioned earlier, but it is well worth reading and can still be found relatively cheaply in second-hand book shops. (This is basically an updated version of Brightwell’s earlier book “The Zoo You Knew?” (1936).)

Although not a history of the zoo, anybody interested in London Zoo in days gone by should also read the delightful book:-

“A Walk Through the Zoological Gardens” (F. G. Aflalo; 1900)
 
"Sailing with Noah" by Jeffrey P. Bonner is a great book that includes some history of the St. Louis Zoo.

The Amazon link is:

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Sailing-Noah-Stories-World-Zoos/dp/0826216374"]Amazon.com: Sailing With Noah: Stories from the World of Zoos: Jeffrey P. Bonner: Books[/ame]
 
UntBwe said:
150 euros. Not much for such a fine copy.
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Agreed :D Although sadly a little out of my price range :rolleyes: I'll have to live with the PDF, though I shouldn't think hard copies are that common (weren't only a 1000 made?), so lucky you for getting one!
 
Jacobea said:
Agreed :D Although sadly a little out of my price range :rolleyes: I'll have to live with the PDF, though I shouldn't think hard copies are that common (weren't only a 1000 made?), so lucky you for getting one!
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Yes it says: This Edition is limited to 1,000 copies, of which this is No. 24 (number is handwritten).

But I think this could be a special luxury edition (book comes with a special case), and it is possible that there was also a cheap edition for the 'common' public with more copies. But I'm not sure...
 
The PDF's scanned from university held copy, so I wonder, maybe, if a number of books were dispersed amongst big institutions? That and the rich people who patronised/supported the zoo. If there are "common" copies, I'd imagine that they were pretty limited in number, and not cheap (certainly not easily affordable by the working man, anyway).
 
Well, I meant 'cheaper', of course at those days only the rich and middle class could buy books.
 
I bought a copy of the Scherren book in a second-hand book shop last year for 40 quid. It is a suerb book and I was pleased with the price but 150 Euros is definitely on the steep side.

I found it easily the most interesting and readable of all the books dealing with the topic of RP's history.
 
Barcelona Zoo has just released a new book about the history of the zoo (past, present and future) and also a small history about the Ciutadella park, where the zoo is located. The book is called "El Parc del Zoo. El cor de la Ciutadella", have 200 pages and costs 10€. The money earned will be used for zoo research, projects and improvements.

The book is in catalan and i'm not sure if it have been translated to spanish or english.

There's a small preview of the book: líniazero: libros
 
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