On Rare Birds - Couverture rigide

Albus, Anita

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 174223254X ISBN 13 : 9781742232546

Editeur : NewSouth Publishing, 2011

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur :

Weaving together natural history and investigative reporting with mythological and cultural material, On Rare Birds tells the compelling stories of ten rare or extinct bird species - from the tragic demise of the once-abundant Passenger Pigeon to the shooting death of the last Carolina Parakeet in the wild, and from the startling natural defences of the wilful Nightjar to the diverse cultural significance of the Kingfisher. Some stories bear sad witness to precious species we have lost, but they are all fascinating and often heartwarming or humorous depictions of the unique lives and loves of birds. On Rare Birds is a visually stunning volume illustrated by author Anita Albus's own superb artwork and by images ranging over five centuries. It will delight anyone who loves birds, laments the depletion of their populations by human hands, and cares about the survival of those species that still stand a chance. With knowledge, devotion, and a true artist's eye, Albus explains in graceful, precise prose why the decline of these bird species is a great loss both to the natural world and, unavoidably, to culture. With each species lost, a world is lost to human understanding-to our arts, our mythology, and our environment.

Revue de presse :

A twinkle of humour and a twist of wit illuminate the stories of these birds and the human figures that go with them. Life is really a series of stories, and Anita Albus is a superb storyteller. --Robert Bateman

THIS is a bookseller's nightmare: where is so ebulliently uncategorisable a title to be shelved? Science, art, literature, history ... ? Wherever it is, it's a reader's delight. It's also a joy for anyone who loves fine art, fine birds or both, bringing together plates from historic painters and engravers and, a real revelation, from Albus herself. The visual and the verbal are equally important to this German artist but then hers is a creativity for which everything interconnects; and for which, more specifically, a crisis in conservation is a crisis in human thought. She is among authors drawn to the work of the old natural scientists and their lack of drive to compartmentalise, to separate out the sciences from the humanities, or to develop a different sense of wonder. Albus quotes poet Paul Valéry: The more I look at you, animal, the more I become man in spirit. --The Scotsman

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: NewSouth Publishing
• Date d'édition: 2011
• ISBN 10: 174223254X
• ISBN 13: 9781742232546
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 288