| A Descriptive Catalogue of the Naiades or Pearly Fresh-water Mussels
by Charles Torrey Simpson
1914, Detroit, paper wrappers, 1540 pages , 3 parts in single binding, page size is 6 by 9 inches (about 15 by 22.5cm) not illustrated
This book now almost 100 years old is still one of the primary reference works that we have on the fresh-water mussels from around the world. The book covers all shells know at the time by Simpson in the family Unionidae a large group of shells found throughout the world. This book is a singular achievement to bring together between single covers so much information about these shells. The lack of illustration for this book is something that the author descries in his introductory pages and then he goes on to give us some of the most complete descriptions of these shells that go a long way to letting us know what they look like, where they are found and loads of other information about them. This book has been reprinted and reproduced in parts and such reprints are quite widely available. This is one of the very few copies of the original work that we've found and it is the first one that we've had to offer. The cover has some slight tears along the edge of the spine and has been taped down at the top. There is an address label with the previous owner's name inside the front cover, the paper is slightly toned but the text pages are almost as new. |
