About the Book

A few that did survive have fallen, figuratively, into the clutches of two of America's most innovative minds: photographer Rosamond Wolff Purcell and paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould. What these collections say about the collectors, and about human beings in general, is the subject of this strangely beautiful and rich compendium. Here are Purcell's wonderfully exotic photographs of teeth and other human artifacts from the collection of Peter the Great; moles, pigs, and dogs from van Heurn's many boxes of perfectly preserved skins; and all manner of preserved life from Rothschild's Birds of Paradise to the fish of Agassiz. Here also is Gould at his best, delighting in the unusual and making connections to our own history and evolution that only the most fertile and whimsical mind could imagine - and that few will be able to resist. This is a book for those with a craving for beauty, knowledge, and a fascination with the unusual.

Product Details

Media: Paperback Book

Language: English

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Edition: Unknown

ISBN-10: 0393310876

Publication Date: Unknown

ISBN-13: 9780393310870

Dimensions: 9.09 x 11.15 x 0.51 inches

Shipping Weight: 1.88 lbs

• Categories: Collecting Art General Science General Nature