Natural History

1st edition, published by the Bird Research Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio, 1943. Illustrated w/paintings by Major Allan Brooks & Edward R. Kalmbach,  photos by Frank Dufresne, Olaus J. Murie, & author, pen sketches by C.G. Mitchell, J.R. Moodey, & L.B. Towle. Scientific and anecdotal results of the Hooper Bay Expedition to study "the richest breeding ground of noncolonial Arctic birds that has ever been discovered...This expedition appears to be the largest party of bird students to penetrate the Arctic. There were five ornithologists, who were assisted by 50 families of bird-minded Eskimos. Data were secured on more than 1500 noncolony nests, and the home habits of 60 different boreal birds..." (flap). 40 plates.

Dust jacket in protective mylar cover; price clipped; very little shelf wear to top edges & corners; brown boards stamped w/gilt decoration & lettering on cover & spine; front endpapers illustrated w/photo; rear endpapers w/map of expedition; binding tight; text clean & bright. VG+/VG+

The second volume in the multimillion copy bestselling series

Millions of readers have delighted in the wonderful storytelling and everyday miracles of James Herriot in the over thirty years since his delightful animal stories were first introduced to the world.

Now in a new edition for the first time in a decade, All Things Bright and Beautiful is the beloved sequel to Herriot's first collection, All Creatures Great and Small, and picks up as Herriot, now newly married, journeys among the remote hillside farms and valley towns of the Yorkshire Dales, caring for their inhabitants---both two- and four-legged. Throughout, Herriot's deep compassion, humor, and love of life shine out as we laugh, cry, and delight in his portraits of his many, varied animal patients and their equally varied owners.

Editor Larry Rosche's Birds of the Cleveland Region is described as the second edition of a work of the same name by Arthur B. Williams published in 1950 by the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Williams's was the first authoritative and inclusive treatment of this avifauna. This new edition continues lhe tradition, taking account of records of birds recorded in the region since that time, as well as new species (both newly-observed and derived from taxonomic refinements) and new locales involved. 

Tales of a champion surfcaster: the education of a young woman hell-bent on following her dream and learning the mysterious and profound sport, and art, of surfcasting, on the island of Martha's Vineyard.

Janet Messineo knew from the get-go that she wanted to become a great fisherman. She knew she was as capable as any man of catching and landing a huge fish. It took years--and many terrifying nights alone on the beach in complete darkness, in search of a huge creature to pull out of the sea--for her to prove to herself and to the male-dominated fishing community that she could make her dream real.

Messineo writes of the object of her obsession: striped bass and how it can take a lifetime to become a proficient striped bass fisherman; of stripers as nocturnal feeders, hard-fighting, clever fish that under the cover of darkness trap bait against jetties or between fields of large boulders near shorelines, or, once hooked, rub their mouths against the rocks to cut the line.

She writes of growing up in Lawrence, Massachusetts, and Salem, New Hampshire, the granddaughter of textile mill workers, tagging along with her father and brother as they cast off of jetties; of going to art school, feeling from a young age the need to escape, and finding herself, one summer, on the Vineyard.

She describes the series of jobs that supported her fishing--waitressing at the Black Dog, Helios, and the Home Port, among other restaurants. She writes of her education in patience and the technique to land a fish; learning the equipment--hooks, sinkers, her first squid jig; buying her first one-ounce Rebel lure.

She re-creates the thrill of fishing at night, of being buffeted by the island's harsh winds and torrential rains; the terror of hooking something mysterious in the darkness that might pull her into water over her head.

She gives us a rich portrait of island life and writes of its history and of Chappaquiddick's (it belonged to the Wampanoags, who originally called it Cheppiaquidne--"separate island"); of the Martha's Vineyard Derby: its beginning in 1946 as a way to bring tourism to the island during the offseason, and the Derby's growing into one of the largest tournaments in the world.

Messineo describes her dream of becoming a marine taxidermist, of learning the craft and perfecting the art of it. She writes of the men she's fished with and the women who forged the path for others (among them, Lorraine "Tootie" Johnson, who fished Vineyard waters for more than sixty years, and Lori VanDerlaske, who won the Derby shore division in 1995). And she writes of her life commingled with fishing--her marriage to a singer, poet, activist; their adopting a son with Asperger's; and her teaching him to fish. She writes of the transformative power of fishing that helped her to shake off drugs and alcohol, and of her profound respect for fish as a magnificent animal.

With eighteen of the author's favorite fish recipes, Casting into the Light is a book about following one's dreams and about the quiet reckoning with self in the long hours of darkness at the water's edge, with the sounds of the ocean, the night air, and the jet-black sky.

There is no harbinger of spring like a field or garden filled with bright yellow daffodils. But the world of the daffodil is much more than just its place in the march of the seasons. It's a plant whose history starts with the tombs of the Pharaohs, through pre-Darwin evolutionary theory and Cornwall's burgeoning bulb business, and leads to the current explosion of varieties from plant breeders seeking new colors, fragrances, and forms.

Daffodil reveals a global plant infatuation that has led to more than 25,000 cultivars available in nearly every shade of yellow (and now pink, orange, and white). Noel Kingsbury tells the tale through an engaging narrative history and plant portraits that highlight more than 200 varieties. Jo Whitworth's revealing photography shows a side of the daffodil rarely seen. Plant lovers will relish the stories and gardeners will cherish the cultivation notes, plant descriptions, and recommendations.

Fierce, timely, and unsettling essays from an important and beloved writer and conservationist

Terry Tempest Williams's fierce, spirited, and magnificent essays are a howl in the desert. She sizes up the continuing assaults on America's public lands and the erosion of our commitment to the open space of democracy. She asks: "How do we find the strength to not look away from all that is breaking our hearts?"

We know the elements of erosion: wind, water, and time. They have shaped the spectacular physical landscape of our nation. Here, Williams bravely and brilliantly explores the many forms of erosion we face: of democracy, science, compassion, and trust. She examines the dire cultural and environmental implications of the gutting of Bear Ears National Monument--sacred lands to Native Peoples of the American Southwest; of the undermining of the Endangered Species Act; of the relentless press by the fossil fuel industry that has led to a panorama in which "oil rigs light up the horizon." And she testifies that the climate crisis is not an abstraction, offering as evidence the drought outside her door and, at times, within herself.

These essays are Williams's call to action, blazing a way forward through difficult and dispiriting times. We will find new territory--emotional, geographical, communal. The erosion of desert lands exposes the truth of chnage. What has been weathered, worn, and whittled away is as powerful as what remains. Our undoing is also our becoming.

Erosion is a book for this moment, political and spiritual at once, written by one of our greatest naturalists, essayists, and defenders of the environment. She reminds us that beauty is its own form of resistance, and that water can crack stone.

An "endlessly fascinating" (Michael Ruse) work of scientific thought and synthesis, Genesis is Edward O. Wilson's twenty-first-century statement on Darwinian evolution. Asserting that religious creeds and philosophical questions can be reduced to purely genetic and evolutionary components, and that the human body and mind have a physical base obedient to the laws of physics and chemistry, Wilson demonstrates that the only way for us to fully understand human behavior is to study the evolutionary histories of nonhuman species. At least seventeen of these species--among them the African naked mole rat and the sponge-dwelling shrimp--have been found to have advanced societies based on altruism and cooperation. Braiding twenty-first- century scientific theory with the lyrical biological and humanistic observations for which Wilson is beloved, Genesis is "a magisterial history of social evolution, from clouds of midges or sparrows to the grotesqueries of ant colonies" (Kirkus Reviews, starred review).

Debbie Gadus was fulfilling her childhood dream of working in the horse business and living on her own when the riding arena roof collapsed on her and a young student during an extreme winter snowstorm. Rescue workers dug her out, doctors saved her life and therapists guided her through rehab and into her new life as a paraplegic living in her parents' home. This is the true inspirational story of how horses led a young woman back to her dream, and how disability enabled her to discover abilities she never knew she possessed. Debbie's story intersects with that of a small therapeutic horseback riding center for disabled persons that would go on to become one of the nation's leading facilities. Little Victories: A True Story of the Healing Power of Horses takes readers into the world of therapeutic riding and the little victories Debbie experiences as she learns to ride again, teach others with disabilities from her wheelchair, and develop a new carriage driving program for those who can't ride. In time, a quiet and reserved woman would gain confidence, becoming a leader and advocate for people with disabilities.

#1 international and New York Times bestselling author Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine and This Changes Everything, makes the case for a Green New Deal--explaining how bold climate action can be a blueprint for a just and thriving society.

For more than twenty years, Naomi Klein has been the foremost chronicler of the economic war waged on both people and planet--and an unapologetic champion of a sweeping environmental agenda with justice at its center. In lucid, elegant dispatches from the frontlines of contemporary natural disaster, she pens surging, indispensable essays for a wide public: prescient advisories and dire warnings of what future awaits us if we refuse to act, as well as hopeful glimpses of a far better future. On Fire: The (Burning) Case for a Green New Deal gathers for the first time more than a decade of her impassioned writing, and pairs it with new material on the staggeringly high stakes of our immediate political and economic choices.

These long-form essays show Klein at her most prophetic and philosophical, investigating the climate crisis not only as a profound political challenge but as a spiritual and imaginative one, as well. Delving into topics ranging from the clash between ecological time and our culture of "perpetual now," to the soaring history of humans changing and evolving rapidly in the face of grave threats, to rising white supremacy and fortressed borders as a form of "climate barbarism," this is a rousing call to action for a planet on the brink.

With reports spanning from the ghostly Great Barrier Reef, to the annual smoke-choked skies of the Pacific Northwest, to post-hurricane Puerto Rico, to a Vatican attempting an unprecedented "ecological conversion," Klein makes the case that we will rise to the existential challenge of climate change only if we are willing to transform the systems that produced this crisis.

An expansive, far-ranging exploration that sees the battle for a greener world as indistinguishable from the fight for our lives, On Fire captures the burning urgency of the climate crisis, as well as the fiery energy of a rising political movement demanding a catalytic Green New Deal.

A new edition of the best-selling field guide with 25 all-new plates covering the birds of Hawaii.

For decades, the Peterson Field Guide to Birds has been a popular and trusted guide for birders of all levels, thanks to its famous system of identification and unparalleled illustrations. Now that the American Birding Association has expanded its species Checklist to include Hawaii, the Peterson Guide is the first edition to include the wonderful and exotic species of our fiftieth state. In addition, the text and range maps have been updated, and much of the art has been touched up to reflect current knowledge.

"If the world of gardening has rock stars, Piet Oudolf qualifies as Mick Jagger, David Bowie, and Prince rolled into one." --Gardenista

The original publication of Planting the Natural Garden ushered in a revolution in landscape design: the New Perennial Movement. Spearheaded by internationally renowned designer Piet Oudolf, and incisively articulated by the late plantsman and designer Henk Gerritsen, it transformed private and public spaces with its emotionally resonant, naturalistic use of hardy perennials and grasses.

Now this classic has been expanded and updated to include scores of new plants and combinations. Packed with practical information and visual inspiration, Planting the Natural Garden zeroes in on the New Perennial Movement's power to move us, making its distinctive plant palette available to all. For enthusiasts of these vibrant landscapes, it is an essential text; for gardeners who love the dreamy moods and colors that Oudolf and Gerritsen celebrate, it's the key to a magic kingdom of garden beauty.

From deterring insect pests with hot peppers to encouraging strawberries by bordering them with chrysanthemums, Louise Riotte shows you how to use the natural qualities of common plants to increase your garden's productivity. Roses Love Garlic profiles hundreds of plants, features sample garden designs, and includes recipes for using your harvest to make herbal cosmetics, medicinal mixtures, and plant-based dyes. You'll enjoy learning about the fascinating ways plants work together as you tend to a thriving and bountiful garden.

A FACINATING TRAVEL MEMOIR THAT WILL ALTER THE WAY YOU THINK ABOUT THE BUMBLEBEE

Dave Goulson became obsessed with wildlife as a small boy growing up in rural Shropshire, starting with an increasingly exotic menagerie of pets. When his interest turned to the anatomical, there were even some ill-fated experiments with taxidermy. But bumblebees are where Goulson's true passion lies.

His passionate quest to reintroduce the bumblebee to its native land is one of the highlights of a book that includes exclusive research into these mysterious creatures, history's relationship with the bumblebee, and advice on how to protect the bumblebee for future generations.

One of the United Kingdom's most respected conservationists and the founder of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, Goulson combines light-hearted tales of a child's growing passion for nature with a deep insight into the crucial importance of the bumblebee. He details the minutiae of life in the nest, sharing fascinating research into the effects intensive farming has had on our bee population and the potential dangers if we are to continue down this path.

Louis Bromfield (1896 – 1956) was an American author and conservationist. A bestselling novelist in the 1920s, he reinvented himself as a farmer in the late 1930s and became one of the earliest proponents of sustainable and organic agriculture in the United States. He won the Pulitzer Prize, founded the experimental Malabar Farm in Ohio, and played an important role in the early environmental movement.

Written just before Bromfield's return from decades of living and writing in Europe,The Farm, published in 1933, traces several generations of a family's life on and around a piece of land in the Western Reserve, Ohio. Beginning with “The Colonel,” the patriarch of the MacDougal family, who first claimed the property, to the novel’s present, the 1930s, and the family's last owner of the property, Johnny, the Colonel's great grandson, Bromfield traces the interactions between the MacDougals, their neighbours, the nearby town, and the land itself.

1st illustrated edition; signed by author; dust jacket in protective cover; edges chipped with some small tears; small hole in rear cover; black cloth with title on spine in green box; pictorial endpapers; front hinge weak; text clean and bright. G/G

The acclaimed author of Founding Gardeners reveals the forgotten life of Alexander von Humboldt, the visionary German naturalist whose ideas changed the way we see the natural world--and in the process created modern environmentalism.

NATIONAL BEST SELLER

One of the New York Times 10 Best Books of the Year

Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, The James Wright Award for Nature Writing, the Costa Biography Award, the Royal Geographic Society's Ness Award, the Sigurd F. Olson Nature Writing Award

Finalist for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction, the Royal Society Science Book Prize, the Kirkus Prize Prize for Nonfiction, the Independent Bookshop Week Book Award

A Best Book of the Year: The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Economist, Nature, Jezebel, Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, New Scientist, The Independent, The Telegraph, The Sunday Times, The Evening Standard, The Spectator

Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) was the most famous scientist of his age, a visionary German naturalist and polymath whose discoveries forever changed the way we understand the natural world. Among his most revolutionary ideas was a radical conception of nature as a complex and interconnected global force that does not exist for the use of humankind alone. In North America, Humboldt's name still graces towns, counties, parks, bays, lakes, mountains, and a river. And yet the man has been all but forgotten.

In this illuminating biography, Andrea Wulf brings Humboldt's extraordinary life back into focus: his prediction of human-induced climate change; his daring expeditions to the highest peaks of South America and to the anthrax-infected steppes of Siberia; his relationships with iconic figures, including Simón Bolívar and Thomas Jefferson; and the lasting influence of his writings on Darwin, Wordsworth, Goethe, Muir, Thoreau, and many others. Brilliantly researched and stunningly written, The Invention of Nature reveals the myriad ways in which Humboldt's ideas form the foundation of modern environmentalism--and reminds us why they are as prescient and vital as ever.

Turn your garden into a hummingbird hotspot, a haven for butterflies, and a thriving ecosystem that will delight and inspire the young and young-at-heart.

Gardening with children is a pleasure in itself, but when you learn to include wildlife in your plans, gardening becomes an even more joyful family experience. Creating a garden that invites wildlife opens up a wider world of nature for investigation, inspiration, and delight. Begin to see your yard from an animal's perspective; discover plants that attract colorful birds and bugs; embrace sensory experiences that native plants and creatures bring; and understand how your yard fits into the surrounding landscape. Along the way you will discover simple ways you can actively support wildlife in your immediate environment, no matter where you live. This family-friendly guide to wildlife gardening leads you on a path to discovery, where trees are transformed into bird and animal habitats, where sunny spots are revered for dragonfly viewing, and where your entire garden becomes an animal-welcoming kingdom.

"An imaginative guide to bringing the delights of the garden indoors." --Publishers Weekly

The Unexpected Houseplant, by renowned plant authority Tovah Martin, offers a revolutionary approach to houseplants. Instead of the typical varieties, Martin suggests hundreds of creative choices--brilliant spring bulbs, lush perennials brought in from the garden, quirky succulents, and flowering vines and small trees. Along with loads of visual inspiration, you will learn how to make unusual selections, where to best position plants in the home, and valuable tips on watering, feeding, and pruning.

This book seeks to capture the idea of the whale in the human imagination through a collection of evocative writings and images from ancient times up to the present day. Ranging across the cultures of the world for its material, this superbly produced visual and literary anthology explores the complexity of humankind's relationship with the whale: the awe-inspiring creature that fills our myths and legends, art and literature, with its mystical, sometimes fearsome, often tragic, presence. 

In this darkly comical look at the sinister side of our relationship with the natural world, Stewart has tracked down over one hundred of our worst entomological foes--creatures that infest, infect, and generally wreak havoc on human affairs. From the world's most painful hornet, to the flies that transmit deadly diseases, to millipedes that stop traffic, to the "bookworms" that devour libraries, to the Japanese beetles munching on your roses, Wicked Bugs delves into the extraordinary powers of six- and eight-legged creatures.

With wit, style, and exacting research, Stewart has uncovered the most terrifying and titillating stories of bugs gone wild. It's an A to Z of insect enemies, interspersed with sections that explore bugs with kinky sex lives ("She's Just Not That Into You"), creatures lurking in the cupboard ("Fear No Weevil"), insects eating your tomatoes ("Gardener's Dirty Dozen"), and phobias that feed our (sometimes) irrational responses to bugs ("Have No Fear").

Intricate and strangely beautiful etchings and drawings by Briony Morrow-Cribbs capture diabolical bugs of all shapes and sizes in this mixture of history, science, murder, and intrigue that begins--but doesn't end--in your own backyard.