| Coquillages de Nouvelle-Calédonie by Bernard Salvat, Claude Rives & Pierre Revercé
1988, Les Editions du Pacifique, in French, laminated board covers, about 6¼ by 9¼ inches (15.5 by 23.5 cm) 143 pages, illustrated with 28 1&½ page sizes color photo guide to shell identification and also excellent page size photo illustrations of living mollusks and their habitat.
If you are familiar with "Coquillages de Polynesie" or the smaller English translation "Shells of Tahiti" we need not go into a long account of the excellent coverage of the subject matter in this book. The text and the photographs are superb and even though most of the shells that are to be found in this book are shells that can be found in other parts of the Pacific it is nice to have a single reference to the shells found in the islands that make up New Caledonia. The first thought usually in our minds when we here about these islands is usually "melanistic and rostrate Cypraea". And while these shells are covered here the book serves as a reminder that many other beautiful and interesting shells of other types are found here too. This book came as a total surprise to us since we had no idea that it existed until we came across this single copy. A quick search revealed another copy of it for sale in Japan but at a price that makes the high price of this book seem modest in comparison. It is a used book but it looks as if it can easily pass as new. The only fault we've found is a slight tear at the edge of two pages that apparently stuck together. It has no effect on the text or the plate. |
