| Shells
photos by Paul Starosta - text by Jacques Senders
2007, Firefly Books,
Buffalo, NY, printed in Italy, large hardcover bound in laminated
boards with printed dust jacket, page size is 9.25 by 13.37 inches
(23.5 by 34cm) 379 pages
There is no doubt about it in my mind that this is one the most beautifully
illustrated "coffee table book" about shells that I have ever seen. The
photos by Starosta is an award winning photographer with about 20 books
to his credit and he also has had biological training. The shells that
are the subjects of his photos are from the collection of Jacques and
Rita Senders who are famous Belgian conchologists who have spent a
great deal of time assembling one of the most spectacular shell
collections ever assembled. The photos themselves are almost always of
single shells, often full page size and superbly lighted to show their
detail. The use of extreme close ups in many cases reveals the beauty
of he shells as we can not see with our eyes alone. There is a brief
introductory section that gives a brief look at shells and how they are
formed and how they have influenced art and architecture. Brief
descriptions and information about the shells accompanies each
pictorial plate.The book is very reasonably priced and I think it is
one that you will never grow tired of browsing through. I did catch a
few errors and there is a "flipped" plate of a Murex shell but it
seems that in books as in nature nothing is ever perfect. |
