Rails of the World: a Monograph of the Family Rallidae

Ripley, S. Dillon (text); Lansdowne, J. Fenwick (paintings); Olson, Storrs L. (chapter on fossil species)

ISBN 10: 0879231998 / ISBN 13: 9780879231996

Published by Boston: David R. Godine Publisher, 1977

About this Item

No. 338 of 400 copies; signed on limitation page by author and illustrator. Tall, thick folio volume in slipcase. Bound in red leather and oatmeal-colored cloth with slipcase covered in same oatmeal-colored cloth with red leather trim. Full page color plates; B&W illustrations; maps. Condition: fine in fine slipcase. 406 pages.

Seller Inventory # 6160JESA

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Rails of the World: a Monograph of the Family Rallidae
• Publisher: Boston: David R. Godine Publisher
• Publication Date: 1977
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0879231998
• ISBN 13: 9780879231996
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Lansdowne, Fenwick
• Edition: Limited Edition
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)

About this title

Synopsis

Pairing S. Dillon Ripley’s quarter century of study with over 70 color and black and white illustrations by J. Fenwick Lansdowne, this book marks a memorable ornithological publishing event. Both the book’s subject matter and its manner of production―lavishly illustrated, printed on special paper with relentless attention to every detail―represent worthy objects of celebration and preservation.

About the Authors

S. Dillon Ripley served as Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution from 1964 to 1984, the institution’s most significant period of expansion, for which service he received a Presidential Medal of Freedom. He also helped found the Smithsonian Folklife Festival and Smithsonian magazine. In his scholarly work, Ripley was an ornithologist, and held degrees in zoology from Yale and Harvard. He was a fellow of the American Ornithologists’ Union, a board member of the World Wildlife Fund, and the third president of the International Council for Bird Preservation. Ripley published six books, including four about birds and other wildlife.

James Fenwick Lansdowne was born in Hong Kong and grew up in Victoria, British Columbia. A self-taught artist, he had his first show at the Royal Ontario Museum when he was nineteen years old. In honor of his artistic achievements, he received the title of Officer of the Order of Canada, the Order of British Columbia, and membership in Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.