The Nature of Natural History (association copy)
NY: Scribners, 1950. First edition. Hardcover. An association copy, inscribed on the front free endpaper: "For Henry van Wesep, with memories of our many pleasant discussions of the technique of conveying ideas -- Marston Bates." Scarce signed, and Bates's signature in general seems uncommon. Van Wesep was the Director of the Publications Office for the Rockefeller Foundation for 37 years, where he was Bates's colleague. A renown zoologist and environmentalist who studied mosquitoes in particular and helped combat yellow fever, Bates (see his lengthy New York Times obit) left Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology to work for the Foundation from 1935 to 1952. Afterward he became a professor at the University of Michigan for 20 years. The author of many popular books, Bates is probably best known for The Forest and the Sea, his introduction to ecosystems and human influence on them. The Nature of Natural History is his "one-volume survey of the field praised by scientists and laymen alike for its balance and clarity" (New York Times). It's still in print as part of Princeton University Press's Legacy Series. Bates was also influential in population discussions. Octavo in green buckram boards with yellow lettering to spine. References and index at rear. Very good with spine a bit sunned/darkened, yellow lettering no longer bright. Rubbing to board edges, worn through at corners and spine ends. In a good dust jacket with loss to upper edges and spine crown; a split to lower front flap fold and holes along the rear flap fold, but the panels are presentable. An excellent association copy. Very good / Very good. Item #2236
More about the book:
"This classic work is an exploration of what natural history is, and a sustained effort to see how it relates to other areas of biology. Marston Bates did not attempt to overwhelm his audience with facts or overinterpret those he did use, and, perhaps for this reason, The Nature of Natural History is a timeless work. The author’s genuine interest in the tropics has a very current feeling, and the first ten or fifteen chapters of the work have a style that is parallel to that of David Attenborough’s verbal presentations of nature.".
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