| Malacologia Mediterranea / Mediterranean Malacology Atlas of Mediterranean Seashells by T. Cossignani & R. Ardovani in collaboration with A. Cecalupo, P. Micali, M. Tisselli & V. Cossignani
2011, L'Informatore Piceno, Cupra Marittima, Italy, in laminated boards, A4 size (About 20.5 by 30cm) about 8 by 11¼ inches, 536 pages illustrated with 7500 color photographs of shells usually several species on a full size page, text is in Italian and English
It has been a good number of years since we've had a major new work on the mollusks from the Mediterranean Sea and this new book is a superb addition to the literature on the marine mollusks living in the Mediterranean Sea. As an atlas and an iconography this book is without equal. There are more than 7500 sharply detailed color photographs of the mollusks in all classes found in these waters from the common species found in shallow water to the very rare shells from the depths of the sea. In the introductory section we find a systematic list of classification of all of these species and the Atlas that follows presents us with some introductory material and an overview of each family which is followed with excellent photos of the species in the family with brief information (name, size and general area where collected). My only disappointment is that the names of the authors are not consistently given with the names of the shells, sometimes they are there, sometimes they are not. They can all be found in the systematic list but require some page turning. The text is in Italian and in English. There have been a large number of great books that have come out in the past two years and this one certainly is a great addition to their ranks. |
