Frank Finn eBooks

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Enjoy 11 well-illustrated eBooks this week by Frank Finn from the early decades of the 1900s. Most of them are about birds and there is a skew toward Asia since the author spent almost a decade in India. The Wikipedia article was shorter than I expected so I searched further and found an obituary in Nature from 1932 which was more informative. These books are freely available on Internet Archive and worth browsing!

The world's birds a simple and popular classification of the birds of the world

The wild beasts of the world

Bird Behavior physical and physiological

Phillips’ A Natural History of the Ducks

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Internet Archive has the 4 volumes of John Charles Phillips’ A Natural History of the Ducks; the books were published in the early 1920s – well illustrated in color and black and white from drawings by Frank W. Benson, Allan Brooks, and Louis Agassiz Fuertes. The author was educated as a doctor but never practiced professionally…instead focusing on hunting, zoology, ornithology and the environment.  He published over 200 articles on his activities including animal breeding, sport hunting, ornithology, wildlife conservation, faunal surveys and systematic reviews, and Mendelian genetics. I enjoyed browsing these eBooks for their illustrations…wondering about the modern classification of ducks and how many of them have become endangered in the years since Phillips observed them.

A natural history of the ducks V1

A natural history of the ducks V2

A natural history of the ducks V3

A natural history of the ducks V4

eBotanical Prints – August 2024

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Twenty more books were added to my botanical print book collection in August - available for browsing on Internet Archive and the Natural History Museum Library (London). I discovered that most of the volumes scanned by the NHML are available on Internet Archive and listed in the collection page for the library; I am more comfortable browsing books that way; however, these books would be harder to find in the Internet Archive outside of the collection list because they do not have ‘topics’ metadata. I was surprised at how many books I’d missed entirely. All 20 additions this month were scanned by NHML.

The whole list of 2,943 botanical eBooks I’ve browsed over the years can be accessed here. Click on any sample images below to get an enlarged version…and the title hyperlink in the list below the image mosaic to view the entire volume.

Enjoy the August 2024 eBotanical Prints!

Filices Britannicae  *  Bolton, James * sample image  *  1785

llustrations of Orchidaceous plants   *  Bauer, Frnaz Andres * sample image  *  1838

Tentamen Floræ Napalensis illustratae : consisting of botanical descriptions and ... figures of select Nipal Plants  *  Wallich, Nathanial * sample image  *  1824

Fossil Plants : sixty photographs illustrating the Flora of the Coal Measures  *  Arber, Edward Alexander Newell * sample image  *  1909

Plant life in Alpine Switzerland; being an account in simple language of the natural history of Alpine plants  *  Arber, Edward Alexander Newell * sample image  *  1910

Fifty Flowers Drawn from Nature at Halifax  *  Bolton, James * sample image  *  1785

The illustrated field guide to ferns and allied plants of the British Isles  *  Jermy, Clive; Camus, Josphine * sample image  *  1991

Ferny Combes : a ramble after Ferns in the Glens and Valleys of Devonshire  *  Chanter, Charlotte * sample image  *  1857

Alpine Plants at Home Series 1  *  Hastings, Somerville * sample image  *  1908

Alpine Plants at Home Series 2  *  Hastings, Somerville * sample image  *  1910

The fern paradise : a plea for the culture of ferns   *  Heath, Francis George * sample image  *  1878

Garden Companion and Florists' Guide  *  Henfrey, Arthur * sample image  *  1852

The fern garden : how to make, keep and enjoy it, or, fern culture made easy  *  Hibberd, Jaes Shirley * sample image  *  1881

The ferns of Derbyshire : illustrated from nature  *  Howe, W.E. * sample image  *  1863

Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Botany (1995)  *  Natural History Museum (London) * sample image  *  1995

Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Botany (1999)  *  Natural History Museum (London) * sample image  *  1999

Weeds of Bhutan  *  Parker, Chris * sample image  *  1992

Rambles in search of ferns  *  Plues, Margaret * sample image  *  1861

Wild Flowers at Home Series 1  *  Todd, Cameron * sample image  *  1906

Wild Flowers at Home Series 2  *  Todd, Cameron * sample image  *  1906

Hume’s Game Birds

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Allan Octavian Hume was in British India as a civil servant from 1849 to 1882; during that time, he also pursued his interests in ornithology. The 3 volumes on game birds were published in 1879. Charles Henry Tilson Marshall organized the plates for the books that were produced by multiple artists. The volumes are available from Internet Archive.

The game birds of India, Burmah, and Ceylon V1

The game birds of India, Burmah, and Ceylon V2

The game birds of India, Burmah, and Ceylon V3 

In 1883 he began the process to donate his collection to the Natural History Museum in London.  The material that went to the museum in 1885 consisted of 82,000 specimens of which 75,577 (258 being type specimens) were finally placed in the museum where it continues to be the single largest collection of Indian bird skins.

American Agriculture in the early 1990s (ebooks)

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Liberty Hyde Bailey edited 4 volumes of the Cyclopedia of American Agriculture between 1900 and 1910. It was a time when horticulture and agriculture were becoming more organized at universities and Bailey was a proponent of America as a ‘great agricultural civilization.’

The books are easily browsed on Internet Archive and the photographs clearly reflect the ‘state of the art for agriculture’ in the early 1900s when they were written. I selected two sample images from each of the 4 volumes. (click on the image to see a larger version)

 Cyclopedia of American agriculture : a popular survey of agricultural conditions, practices and ideals in the United States and Canada V1 Farms

Eleazar Albin’s Birds and Insects

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The week’s featured eBooks are from Internet Archive, originally published in the 1720s and 1730s. Eleazar Albin, according to his Wikipedia entry, was an English naturalist and watercolorist illustrator. He gives credit to daughter (Elizabeth Albin) for helping with the illustrations on the title page of his “A Natural History of Birds” series…and says that the drawings were made from live birds. The books are worth browsing for their illustrations!

 A natural history of birds V1

A natural history of birds V2

A natural history of birds V3

Children’s Books from the 1930s

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My parents were born in the early 1930s; that prompted a little project to browse books written for children during that decade when I found the Library of Congress contributions from the Albert Whitman & Co. in Chicago. 43 books are included as this week’s eBook(s) of the week. They are all available from Internet Archive.

There are so many topics: make believe, holidays, history, other places and people, things to do, and pets. The illustrations reflect the perceptions of the world in the 1930s.  Most authors are women and don’t have easy-to-find biographies.

It’s interesting to think about the children that read these books. I don’t think either of my parents did unless they saw them at school; they were rural/small town children during the Great Depression when the family finances were tight and buying books would not have been the priority. Perhaps some children in towns large enough to have libraries might have seen books there. Carnegie had built about half his libraries by the 1930s but the libraries were short of funds to continue operating during the Depression too. I’m left with the thought that only children of people that were well off (those fortunes were not impacted by the Depression) would have had these books at home.

1930

The adventures of a brownie - Craik, Dinah Maria Mulock; McCracken, James (illustrations)

The nutcracker and the Mouse-king - Hoffmmann, Ernst Theodoor Amadeus; Brock, Emma L. (illustrator)

The unknown Indian - Browne, Gertrude Bell; Vernon, David Thomas (illustrator)

Harry's newspaper;or The young publisher - Cox, Stephen A. D.

Peter Piper's playmates - Hubbard, Eleanore Mineah

 

1931

Fluffy Cat's Tail - Sample, Ann Eliza

Moufflon, the dog of Florence - Ouida; Jenkins, Sara D. (retold by)

Wise Little Donkey -  Segur, Sophie, comtesse de

 

1933

Runzel-Punzel,a story of two little mice - Donaldson, Lois

The Candy Cottage - Furlong, May

The Lost Log Cabin - Furlong, May

The little gardeners - Morgenstern, Elizabeth

Smoky, the lively locomotive - Donaldson, Lois

Farm Folk - Brendel, C.A.

 

1934

Nimbo,the story of an African boy - Pease, Josephine Van Dolzen

Snowy for luck - Goode, Arthur Russell; Wiese, Kurt

Ho-Ming : girl of new China  - Lewis, Elizabeth Foreman

 

1935

Over the castle walls - Mabry, Caroline

Buffin - Barrett, Leone

Bing of the Diamond Tail - Gauss, Marianne

 

1936

The Traveling Gallery - Schiff, Besse; Brock, Emma

Sondo - a Liberian boy - Jospeph, Alfred Ward; Magnie, Bernice (illustrator)

Snipp, Snapp, Snurr and the yellow shed - Lindman, Maj

Snipp, Snapp, Snurr and the gingerbread - Lindman, Maj

 

1937

Firecracker - Gauss, Marianne

Hans Christian of Elsinore - Kristoffersen, Eva M.

Cheeky - a prairie dog - Lau, Jospehine Sanger; Wiese, Kurt (illustrator)

Silver Chief To the Rescue - O'Brien, Jack; Wiese, Kurt (illustrator)

A doll's family album - King, Edna Knowles

 

1938

Hoofbeats, a picture book of horses - Cannon, James Leonard

Me and Andy, a boy and dog story - Kelly, Raymond Ramsome

Carnival time at Strobeck - Harris, Mary V.

The luck of the house  -  the story of a family and a sword - Bedford-Atkins, Gladys

Dolls - an Anthology - Robinson, Julia A.

Donkey beads  -  a tale of a Person donkey - Ratzesberger, Anna

The runaway papoose - Moon, Grace and Karl

eBotanical Prints – July 2024

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Twenty more books were added to my botanical print book collection in July - available for browsing on Internet Archive and the New York Public Library Digital Collection. I discovered the NYPL Digital Collection back in June and in July 15 of the 20 volumes are from that site! It is not as easy to access the multi-volume books (i.e. the multiple volumes in the list are accessed with the single link and there doesn’t appear to be a quick way to reposition to the beginning of each volume).

The whole list of 2,923 botanical eBooks can be accessed here. Click on any sample images below to get an enlarged version…and the title hyperlink in the list below the image mosaic to view the entire volume.

Enjoy the July 2024 eBotanical Prints!

The Herefordshire pomona, containing coloured figures and descriptions of the most esteemed kinds of apples and pears V1  * Bull, Henry Graves; Hogg, Robert; Bull, Edith G; Ellis, Alice B *

sample image * 1885

The Herefordshire pomona, containing coloured figures and descriptions of the most esteemed kinds of apples and pears V2 * Bull, Henry Graves; Hogg, Robert; Bull, Edith G; Ellis, Alice B * sample image * 1885

Pomona Herefordiensis : containing coloured engravings of the old Cider and Perry Fruits of Herefordshire * Knight, Thomas Andrew   *sample image * 1811

Traite des arbres fruitiers V1 * Duhamel du Monceau, Henri-Louis*sample image * 1768

Traite des arbres fruitiers V2 * Duhamel du Monceau, Henri-Louis*sample image * 1768

Traité des arbres et arbustes que l'on cultive en France en pleine terre V1 * Duhamel du Monceau, Henri-Louis; Redoute, Pierre Joseph (artist)*sample image * 1819

Traité des arbres et arbustes que l'on cultive en France en pleine terre V2 (page 63) * Duhamel du Monceau, Henri-Louis; Redoute, Pierre Joseph (artist)*sample image * 1819

Traité des arbres et arbustes que l'on cultive en France en pleine terre V3 (page 135) * Duhamel du Monceau, Henri-Louis; Redoute, Pierre Joseph (artist)*sample image * 1819

Traité des arbres et arbustes que l'on cultive en France en pleine terre V4 (page 193) * Duhamel du Monceau, Henri-Louis; Redoute, Pierre Joseph (artist)*sample image * 1819

Traité des arbres et arbustes que l'on cultive en France en pleine terre V5 (page 263) * Duhamel du Monceau, Henri-Louis; Redoute, Pierre Joseph (artist)*sample image * 1819

Traité des arbres et arbustes que l'on cultive en France en pleine terre V6 (page 349) * Duhamel du Monceau, Henri-Louis; Redoute, Pierre Joseph (artist)*sample image * 1819

Traité des arbres et arbustes que l'on cultive en France en pleine terre V7 (page 431) * Duhamel du Monceau, Henri-Louis; Redoute, Pierre Joseph (artist)*sample image * 1819

La botanique mise à la porteé de tout le monde - Tome 1 * Regnault, Nicolas-François*sample image * 1774

La botanique mise à la porteé de tout le monde - Tome 2 (page 161) * Regnault, Nicolas-François*sample image * 1774

La botanique mise à la porteé de tout le monde - Tome 3 (page 311) * Regnault, Nicolas-François*sample image * 1774

Hortus Romanus juxta systems Tournefortianum paulo V1 * Bonelli, Giorgio(Author); Martelli, Niccoló(Editor); Sabbati, Constantino (Author);  Sabbati, Liberato (Author)*sample image * 1772

Hortus Romanus juxta systems Tournefortianum paulo V2 (page 105) * Bonelli, Giorgio(Author); Martelli, Niccoló(Editor); Sabbati, Constantino (Author);  Sabbati, Liberato (Author)*sample image * 1774

Hortus Romanus juxta systems Tournefortianum paulo V3 (page 207) * Bonelli, Giorgio(Author); Martelli, Niccoló(Editor); Sabbati, Constantino (Author);  Sabbati, Liberato (Author)*sample image * 1775

Hortus Romanus juxta systems Tournefortianum paulo V4 (page 309) * Bonelli, Giorgio(Author); Martelli, Niccoló(Editor); Sabbati, Constantino (Author);  Sabbati, Liberato (Author)*sample image * 1776

Hortus Romanus juxta systems Tournefortianum paulo V5 (page 411) * Bonelli, Giorgio(Author); Martelli, Niccoló(Editor); Sabbati, Constantino (Author);  Sabbati, Liberato (Author)*sample image * 1778

Indian Architecture in 1896

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Syad Muhammad Latif’s book with descriptions and drawings of historical buildings of Agra (including the Taj Mahal) as they were in the 1890s is the ‘book of the week.’  The drawings were the high point for me; I’ve included four samples in this post with many more to be viewed by following the link to the book on Internet Archive. Most of the drawings are the exterior of structures but there are also a few interiors.

Agra historical & descriptive with an account of Akbar and his court and of the modern city of Agra

Johan Nieuhof’s drawings of Brazil, China, and India in the mid 1600s

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Johannes Nieuhof  travelled for the Dutch West India Company and the Dutch East Company…and documented his travels with drawings and annotations. According to the Wikipedia entry, he traveled from 1640 (when he was 22) to his death in 1672 (went missing in Madagascar) only returning home for short visits in 1658 and 1671. He entrusted his notes and papers to his brother Hendrik who produced the books attributed to Johannes. These ‘books of the week’ by Nieuhof are two available from Internet Archive.

Voyages and travels into Brazil and the East-Indies, 1640-1649

At the time these books were published, Nieuhof’s drawings of China were the first to show the country true to nature. He drew realistic images of structures, people, and plants/animals he saw as he travelled.  

Robert F. Scott in Antarctica

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Robert Falcon Scott led two expeditions to Antarctica; the expedition records for both are available on Internet Archive.

Scott wrote the expedition record for the first after he returned to Britain in 1904.

The Voyage of the 'Discovery', 1905

The second expedition (Terra Nova) began in 1910. He died in March 1912 in Antarctica. The expedition record was arranged by Leonard Huxley and published in 1914. Volume 1 provides the journals of Scott and Volume 2 provides the reports of the journeys and the scientific work undertaken by Dr. E.A. Wilson (who died with Scott) and the surviving members of the expedition. Both volumes are illustrated by photographs taken by Herbert G. Ponting (the first professional photographer included in an Antarctic expedition) and other members of the expedition. There are also a few color plates and sketches made by Dr. Wilson.

Scott's last expedition V1, 1914

All three books are well worth browsing. The pictures/illustrations prompt some reading as well. These are as close as it gets to firsthand descriptions of what happened.  

eBotanical Prints – June 2024

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Twenty more books were added to my botanical print book collection in June - available for browsing on Internet Archive (and the new-to-me New York Public Library Digital Collection where I found Pomona Britannica). The whole list of 2,903 botanical eBooks can be accessed here. Click on any sample images to get an enlarged version…and the title hyperlink to view the entire volume.

So many botanical print books available…and so beautiful. I’ve stopped thinking that I am about to run out of books. It seems likely that finding 20 that I haven’t seen before to share every month won’t be ending anytime soon.  Enjoy the June 2024 eBotanical Prints!

Wildflowers * Blanchan, Neltje; Dickinson, Asa Don (adaptor) * sample image * 1926

Pomona Britannica * Brooksaw, George * sample image * 1812

Annales d'horticulture et de botanique V1 * Socit royal d'horticulture des Pays-Bas * sample image * 1858

Annales d'horticulture et de botanique V5 * Socit royal d'horticulture des Pays-Bas * sample image * 1862

Annales de la Société royale d'agriculture et de botanique de Gand V1, 1845 * Morren, Charles (editor) * sample image * 1845

Annales de la Société royale d'agriculture et de botanique de Gand V2, 1846 * Morren, Charles (editor) * sample image * 1846

Annales de la Société royale d'agriculture et de botanique de Gand V3, 1847 * Morren, Charles (editor) * sample image * 1847

Annales de la Société royale d'agriculture et de botanique de Gand V4, 1848 * Morren, Charles (editor) * sample image * 1848

Annales de la Société royale d'agriculture et de botanique de Gand V5, 1849 * Morren, Charles (editor) * sample image * 1849

Fuchsia * Morren, Charles; Fusch, Remaclus * sample image * 1850

Lobelia * Morren, Charles * sample image * 1851

Pear Growing in California * Weldon, George Percival * sample image * 1918

Icones plantarum novarum vel imperfecte cognitarum floram Rossicam V 1-2 * Ledebour, Carl Friedrich von * sample image * 1830

Icones plantarum novarum vel imperfecte cognitarum floram Rossicam V 3-4 * Ledebour, Carl Friedrich von * sample image * 1833

Icones plantarum novarum vel imperfecte cognitarum floram Rossicam V 5 * Ledebour, Carl Friedrich von * sample image * 1834

Icones Plantarum V1 * Hooker, William Jackson * sample image * 1837

Icones Plantarum V2 * Hooker, William Jackson * sample image * 1837

Icones Plantarum V3 * Hooker, William Jackson * sample image * 1840

Icones Plantarum V6 * Hooker, William Jackson * sample image * 1843

Icones Plantarum V30 * Hooker, Joseph Dalton; Hooker, William Jackson * sample image * 1913

Restoring Ancient Bronzes eBook

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Henry W. Nichols’ Restoration of ancient bronzes and cure of malignant patina was published in 1930 and documents the process used by Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History to restore ancient Egyptian bronzes (and some from Mesopotamia too) in their collection. They used the Fink electrochemical process which was inaugurated by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The author was the curator with a geology and chemistry background responsible for the work on a total of 360 bronzes from 1926 to 1929. The before and after images contained in the book are dramatic. The book is available from Internet Archive.

 Restoration of ancient bronzes and cure of malignant patina

Ten Little Celebrations – June 2024

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June 2024 ---- the transition to the heat of summer ---- celebrating June days.

Sunflower in the window…following the sun. I cut a sunflower from my wildflower garden and put the vase on the windowsill in my office…and celebrated when that it followed the sun!

Peachicks. I had never seen a peachick before and had walked more than halfway around the Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield, MO before I spotted three peachicks with a peahen. Celebration! The young birds already had the beginning of the topknot on their heads but none of the iridescent color.

Corn muffins. Sometimes deciding to make a food remembered from childhood is about celebrating more that the food itself. The dash of cayenne pepper in the batter provided an extra flavor pop.

Mowing the whole yard. My plan at the beginning of the season was to mow the front yard on one day and the back another…but I am doing great mowing both on the same day. I am celebrating that I am physically able to do more than I anticipated!

Blueberries. Picking blueberries was another first this June. I celebrated the experience – and that the orchard is less than 30 minutes from my house.

Breakfast with my daughter. My daughter wanted to try breakfast at a coffee shop she frequents…invited me to meet her there. I celebrated the serendipity of the event (and savored the breakfast  and spending more time with my daughter too).

Hummingbird. I’ve seen a hummingbird buzzing around our yard several times. I celebrate every sighting and am determined to plant some ‘big nectar’ plants for them for next year.

Young robin. I celebrated seeing a small robin – about half the size of the adult feeding it – on our backyard fence. And it could fly!

So many good books. There are so many books available electronically from my local library and Internet Archive that I am never without reading material. I celebrate living at a time when technology makes books so available.

Scissortail flycatchers in the neighborhood. I hadn’t seen scissortail flycatchers in our neighborhood during the two previous summers….so am celebrating seeing a pair of them this month!

Bird Homes

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Arthur Radclyffe Dugmore published his Bird Homes book in 1902. It is illustrated with his photographs of nests and young birds – one of the earliest books on the topic with photographic illustrations. The book was published in the same year that he was elected to The Camera Club of New York and was noticed by Alfred Stieglitz (according to the Wikipedia article). The book is well worth browsing on Internet Archive. (There are also other books by this author available on Internet Archive.)

Bird Homes: The Nests Eggs and Breeding Habits of The Land Birds Breeding in the Eastern United States

 I was curious about what happened to Dugmore later in his life. He lived to 1955 but didn’t publish after 1930. I found an article about him from the Boone and Crocket Club but it didn’t document that period of his life either. Perhaps the gas injury from the trenches of World War I incapacitated him later in his life or maybe he decided that The Autobiography of a Wanderer (his book published in 1930) was a good finale.

Ships eBook from the late 1920s

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Cecil J. Allen and John R. Hind’s My Book of Ships was published in 1928 in London – well after the Titanic sank in 1912. It is interesting that the Titanic is not mentioned in the book although page 47 is damaged (it appears that half a page was cut out) and is in the chapter about wrecks and salvage.

The book is illustrated with photographs and color illustrations. It is all history now but at the time it was published it was a little history but focuses on the state of the art for ships. It is well worth browsing!

My book of ships: their building and the wonders of navigation; illustrated and described for children

eBontanical Prints – May 2024

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Twenty-one more books were added to the botanical print collection in May - available for browsing on Internet Archive. The whole list of 2,883 botanical eBooks can be accessed here. Click on any sample images to get an enlarged version…and the title hyperlink to view the entire volume on Internet Archive. Enjoy the May 2024 eBotanical Prints!

The set is unusual because the oldest book was published in 1928. Most months the books are from earlier decades/centuries. Another aspect that is unusual is that 19 of the books are from the same source (American Plant Life Society) and published over many years (1938 – 2006).

The Marine Algae of Florida with special reference to the Dry Tortugas * Taylor, William Randolph * sample image * 1928

The American species of Crepis, their interrelationships and distribution as affected by polyploidy and apomixis * Babcock, Ernest Brown * sample image * 1938

Herbertia V 1-5 (1934-1938) * American Amaryllis Society * sample image * 1938

Herbertia V 6-10 (1939-1943) * American Amaryllis Society * sample image * 1943

Herbertia V 40 (1984) * American Plant Life Society * sample image * 1943

Herbertia V 41 (1985) * American Plant Life Society * sample image * 1985

Herbertia V 42 (1986) * American Plant Life Society * sample image * 1986

Herbertia V 43 N1 (1986) * American Plant Life Society * sample image * 1987

Herbertia V 43 N2 (1987) * American Plant Life Society * sample image * 1987

Herbertia V 44 N1 (1988) * American Plant Life Society * sample image * 1987

Herbertia V 46 N1-2 (1990) * American Plant Life Society * sample image * 1990

Herbertia V 47 (1991) * American Plant Life Society * sample image * 1991

Herbertia V 48 (1992) * American Plant Life Society * sample image * 1992

Herbertia V 49 (1993) * American Plant Life Society * sample image * 1993

Herbertia V 50 (1994-1995) * American Plant Life Society * sample image * 1995

Herbertia V 51 (1996) * American Plant Life Society * sample image * 1996

Herbertia V 52 (1997) * American Plant Life Society * sample image * 1997

Herbertia V 53 (1998) * American Plant Life Society * sample image * 1998

Herbertia V 54 (1999) * American Plant Life Society * sample image * 1999

Herbertia V 59 (2004-2005) * American Plant Life Society * sample image * 2005

Herbertia V 60 (2005-2006) * American Plant Life Society * sample image * 2006

Fine Art History (collection on Internet Archive)

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This ‘book of the week’ post features a collection found on Internet Archive that includes slideshow collections of art works from artists around the world and different time periods. There is a lot to browse in this collection and I will probably feature it again from time to time since I enjoy the images and learning about the artists. I have chosen 20 for this post…hopefully the sample images will provide enough of an incentive to look at these artists and the rest of the collection. Enjoy!

Fernand Léger (1881 - 1955)

John Hoyland (1934 - 2011)

Korean Art History eBooks

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Internet Archive had 14 of the 15 volumes of the Chōsen koseki zufu – published beginning in 1915 in Japanese and full of illustrations of Korean antiquities. It was the result of the Japanese work to systemically organize and investigate cultural assets and sites throughout the Korean Peninsula after they annexed the country in 1910.

Most of what I know about Korea is in the context of the Korean War of the 1950s and, more recently, the products from South Korea that are exported to the U.S. These books enlarged my understanding of the deep history of the country via the pictures (although I probably would have gotten even more from the books if I could read Japanese!). I have selected a sample image from each volume…but there are many more in the books…well worth the time to browse.

Volume I. Sites of excavations, pottery, bronzes, inscription on stone, ancient metallic mirrors, etc. Chōsen koseki zufu V1

Volume II. Continuation of first volume, frescoes and other details of paintings from the tombs. Chōsen koseki zufu V2

 Volume III. Photographs and plans of sites excavated details of sculpture, beads, smaller bronzes etc. Chōsen koseki zufu V3

 Volume IV. Antiquities of the Silla period in Korea. Chōsen koseki zufu V4

 Volume V. Continuation of Volume IV (not on Internet Archive)

Volume VI. Antiquities of Koryo period. Chōsen koseki zufu V6

 Volume VII. Continuation of Volume VI. Chōsen koseki zufu V7

 Volume VIII. Pottery. Chōsen koseki zufu V8

 Volume IX. Metallic mirrors, bronzes, jewelry, household utensils. Chōsen koseki zufu V9

 Volume X. Temple architecture, including some details of decoration. Chōsen koseki zufu V10

 Volume XI. Continuation of preceding volume, sculpture. 1951. Chōsen koseki zufu V11

Volume XII. Temple architecture. Chōsen koseki zufu V12

 Volume XIII. Temple architecture. 1933. Chōsen koseki zufu V13

 Volume XIV. Painting. 1934. Chōsen koseki zufu V14

 Volume XV. Pottery. 1935 Chōsen koseki zufu V15

James W. VanStone – anthropologist

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There are 16 eBooks in this week’s feature – authored by James. W. VanStone from 1979-1998 while he was Curator of North American Archeology and Ethnology for the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. These books have many illustrations – drawings and photographs – and are well worth browsing to glimpse of the cultures of the northern part of North America. VanStone’s research in the area started in the 1950s and he was a prolific scholar throughout his career. Enjoy the sample images (click on the image to see a larger version)…but there are so many more in the books themselves – all freely available on Internet Archive.

Material culture of the Davis Inlet and Barren Ground Naskapi: the William Duncan Strong collection -1985

The Bruce collection of Eskimo material culture from Kotzebue Sound, Alaska -1980

An ethnographic collection from northern Sakhalin Island -1985

Ingalik contact ecology : an ethnohistory of the lower-middle Yukon, 1790-1935  -1979