Cent Coquillages Rares
by Lesley Sutty
©1984 and 1986, Les Editions du Pacific, in laminated boards, stitched binding, 126 pages, about 17.5 by 24. cm (about 7 by 9¼ inches) in French, with color photo illustrations full page or smaller of all species referenced in text
We've know about this book for many years but this is the first copy that we've been able to see. Properly the book title should be "One Hundred Rare Shells from the Caribbean" because all of the shells in this book were found in the Caribbean. It is surprising though to find among these shells a specimen of Oliva porphyria which the author reports as being found off Guadeloupe, FWI. Miss Sutty notes that this shell may have been a transplant which would explain the presence of this species otherwise know only from the Eastern Pacific. The photography is marvelous and many extreme close-ups of many of the specimens make us observe details about these shells that may have escaped our notice, The shells are well documented and the text though in French should not be a stumbling block for anyone familiar with shell terminology and in my case with the aid of a good computer translation program. (I recommend Bing's free translation program). This is a book that every Florida and Caribbean shell collector will want to have in their library. This is a used book with some very slight shelf wear to the cover. It looks like it is almost new.
