Shells Hardcover – July 1, 2008

If you're a serious shell collector FORGET THIS BOOK! There is more copy than photos, and very little actual information related to the shells pictured. Many of the pictures are of poor quality. If you're interested in the PHILOSOPHY of collecting and the role of museums,then this book is for you. I have lots of "coffee table" books on shells, and I can say from experience, that "it's hard to beat, The Shell:Five hundred million years of inspired design" by Hugh Stix. or "The Worlds Most Beautiful Seashells" by Hill/Carmichael ( be sure to get the hardcover of this book, the paperback is hard too handle).Table of contents says it all; Naming Shells, The Role of Natural History Museums, Collectors and the Environment, Divergent Views. I donated my copy of this book to the library.

I bought this book sight unseen, excepting through Amazon. The cover is "chicoreus cornucervi", an Australian murex with curling spines. It is well illustrated. Some of the shells are photographed with white and black backgrounds, some with a back-light.It is lacking in substance. The shells look good and are, for architectural and art fanciers, a feast, but for a collector who wants to identify and have more knowledge, it is very lacking.If I had seen it in a book store and leafed through it, I wouldn't have purchased it. It is a coffee table book, to be viewed in a stream of pages leafed over.In comparison to Abbott's "Compendium of Shells" and my recently purchased (from Amazon) "The Book of Shells" by Harasewych, it is just a burden for the post office.

We are collectors of shell photos and have found this one oustanding - with shells I have never seen and outstanding technical quality. Any one with such an interest should have this book.

Absolutely wonderful photographs. It is a keeper on our coffee table.

Very interesting; fabulous photos. Information on many shells that are rarely seen.

Beautiful book, very informative.

coffee table book

Das Buch beinhaltet sehr schöne Fotos und einen informativen und interessanten Text, sehr zu empfehlen für alle Muschel-sammler- und liebhaber.