Carson Rachel Signed (4 results)

Hardcover. First edition. Signed on the title page by Bancroft and located at "Sanibel-Captiva," the islands on the Gulf Coast of Florida where he lived and worked as a writer and nature guide after a career in journalism. With the owl-illustration bookplate on the pastedown of notable naturalist Shirley Ann Briggs and taped below it a note "From the desk of Joseph B. Phillips" dated 1973 that recommends and relays the book as a gift to Briggs. This book is a science-informed novel set in "the immediate future" that traces the lives of a bald eagle, an osprey, and a falcon as they migrate and breed and confront environmental hazards, notably DDT: "The reader is able to see how the killing of aphids in a small cornfield by DDT can affect birds and animals hundred of miles away . The impact [of the book] exceeds that of the most alarming scientific treatise on the subject of vanishing species." Shirley Ann Briggs was a close friend and colleague of Rachel Carson and later championed her legacy, and as such the emphasis on DDT in this similar "fable for tomorrow," to use Carson's phrase, in a book published ten years after Silent Spring,makes this copy a compelling association. With full page illustrations of the birds by John Hamberger. Fine in a near fine price-clipped jacket with a touch of wear to corners and spine ends, a few very short tears to edges.

Cloth. Condition: Near fine. Dust Jacket Condition: near fine. Signed first edition of Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, from the library of fellow conservationist James W. Eike, the president of the Virginia Society of Ornithology. (illustrator). First Edition, First Printing. Octavo, x, [6], 368pp. Green cloth, gilt title on spine and cover. Yellow top-stain, patterned endpapers. Stated "First Printing" on copyright page. Solid text block, slight bumps to edges of spine, a near fine example. In the publisher's first state dust jacket, $5.00 retail price on front flap, chipping to spine and corners, touch of shelf wear, a vibrant example. Thin dampstain along bottom edge of rear flap, faint stain to bottom edge of text block, no impact to text or stability of jacket. Housed in a custom black morocco clamshell, title in gilt on green label over spine. This copy belonged to Mr. and Mrs. James W. Eike, with his ownership stamp on the half title. Inscribed by the author on the half title: "Best Wishes / Rachel Carson." A beautiful example of a landmark work in environmental science and public health. James W. Eike (1911-1983), the recipient of this copy, began working for the U.S. Public Health Service in 1934. He went on to work for the Civil Service Commission, the U.S. State Department, and retired from the U.S. Information Agency in 1970. Eike joined the Virginia Society of Ornithology (VSO) in 1933, serving as president from 1950-1952 and again from 1969-1971. His fifty years of membership is commemorated with the James W. Eike Service Award, recognizing VSO members for their outstanding conservation efforts and service to the organization. Rachel Carson (1907-1964) was a pioneering environmentalist who raised global awareness about the dangers of synthetic pesticides like DDT, both for humans and the biosphere. Her writing and activism is credited with inspiring numerous legislative movements and the eventual creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Signed.

Hardcover. Condition: Near fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Near fine. First edition. A collection of six signed books taking inspiration from Robert K. Musil'sRachel Carson and Her Sisters: Extraordinary Women Who Have Shaped America's Environment. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2014.A fine/fine copy of that book is provided here inscribed: "For Susan, Thanks for caring about learning + the environment. Robert Musil." Uncommon signed. Musil is an environmental writer, activist, and the president and CEO of the Rachel Carson Council. Also included are five books from notable 20th-century women environmentalist-authors that Musil profiles in the later half of the book and convincingly argues are in the lineage of Rachel Carson (listed chronologically): Hardy, Harriet L.Challenging Man-Made Disease.NY: Praeger, 1983. Inscribed in a shaky hand on the title page.Uncommon signed, with no other copies available as of this writing.Hardy was 77 at the time of the book's publication, and this memoir looks back at more than four decades of her important career. She is renown for her work in work-related health hazards and was a close colleague of Alice Hamilton who recruited her to be the co-author of their landmark textbookIndustrial Toxicology. She was faculty at the Harvard School of Public Health. A near fine book with a touch of rubbing to corners in a very good jacket with some wear to top edge and a few nicks and short tears to edges. Williams, Terry Tempest.Refuge: An Unnatural History.NY: Pantheon, 1991. Inscribed on the half-title page: "November 6, 1995, For you Patrick, Refuge, in the land, in each other, Blessings, Terry Tempest Williams."A modern classic of environmental writing and reportedly one of the all-time bestselling book of environmental writing of the 20th century. Carson describes her mother's decline and death from cancer alongside the water-level decline of the wildlife-rich Great Salt Lake. A fine copy in fine jacket. Colborn, Theo, Dianne Dumanoski, and John Peterson Myers.Our Stolen Future: Are We Threatening Our Fertility, Intelligence, and Survival? -- A Scientific Detective Story.NY: Dutton, 1996. Inscribed movingly on the front free endpaper: "To Wren, It took a lot more than scientific research to make this book possible. Your encouragement, your love, and support have made this possible. -- I hope you can find some satisfaction for yourself personally in the results of this book. Thanks for always being there, Theo." A wonderful inscription, clearly a close association copy.Uncommon signed, with no other copies available online as of this writing.With a foreword by Al Gore, who opens with: "Last year I wrote a foreword to the thirtieth anniversary edition of Rachel Carson's classic work,Silent Spring. Little did I realize that I would so soon be writing a foreword to a book that is in many respects its sequel." This book chronicles "this insidious invasion [of chemicals], which is derailing sexual development and reproduction, not only in a host of animal populations but, it now appears, humans as well." Colborn is renown for her work studying endocrine disruptors; her story is wonderful as she was a "late bloomer," only earning her PhD in Zoology at 58 but going on to do accomplished work. She is the recipient of dozens of notable prizes. Robert Musil profiles Colborn but this book is co-written with scientist John Peterson Myers and environmental journalist Dianne Dumanoski. Steingraber, Sandra.Living Downstream: An Ecologist Looks at Cancer and the Environment.NY: Addision-Wesley, 1997.Signed and dated 1998 on the title page and additionally inscribed (to no recipient): "With all best wishes, Sandra."Uncommon signed, with no other copies available online as of this writing.Her first book.A biologist, Steingraber survived cancer in her twenties and this book investigates the pathways of environmental contamination with the touch a poet through the lens of her own personal narrative.From the jacket: "Sandra Steingraber is . the first to trace with such compelling precision the entire web of connections between our bodies and the ecological world in which we eat, drink, breathe, and work."An oft-talked about work of contemporary environmental justice writing.A fine book in near fine jacket with a little rubbing. Davis, Devra Lee.When Smoke Ran Like Water: Tales of Environmental Deception and the Battle Against Pollution.NY: Basic Books, 2002. Inscribed on the title page: "For Danny, [illegible] & thanks for your wise and brave leadership. Devra Davis."Uncommon signed, with no other copies available online as of this writing.Davis is a renown epidemiologist and she likewise "confronts the public triumph and private failures of the public health community's long battle against environmental pollution" while writing about how environmental pollution has impacted her own family. A fine book in fine jacket. Musil devotes a chapter each to Tempest Williams, Colborn, Steingraber, and Dervis. Hardy is profiled in a chapter that also discusses Ellen Swallows Richards and Alice Hamilton. Each of these books is uncommon signed aside fromRefugewhich is sporadically available signed. A great collection ripe for additions based on further reading in Musil's book or beyond.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. Hardcover with DJ. Dark green cloth with bronze lettering. Binding good and tight and clean. DJ present, in protective mylar. Original price of $5.00 on the front flap. A clean and attractive copy with no condition issues at all. Top edge yellow (as issued). Patterned endpapers. Title page dated 1962. Copyright page dated 1962 and stated First Printing. SIGNED ON THE HALF TITLE PAGE by Rachel Carson -- just her name (without middle initial), no inscription. 368 pages. Illustrated by Lois and Louis Darling. It is impossible to overstate the importance of this Silent Spring in the history of natural history writing and the environmental movement. Many of its precepts are common knowledge now (though not enough of them!) but they were revelatory at the time. It remains the loudest and most heeded warning knell of the environmental movement. This is the first printing of the first edition in very good condition and with Rachel Carson's rare signature (without inscription). Please email with questions or to request photos. Pardon the glare in the photo of the front cover - that's the mylar reflecting something beneath the book. Signed by Author(s).