Catalog 176

Santa Fe, Museum of Navajo Ceremonial Art, 1956. As recorded by Mary C. Wheelwright. Edited with commentaries by David P. McAllister, and with 22 serigraph color plates by Louis Ewing. This copy has fundraising material for the Museum of Navajo Ceremonial Art laid in, including a brochure by and a form letter from Oliver La Farge, the President of the Board of Trustees of the Museum; and a newspaper article about the Museum and its founder, Wheelwright, the author/editor of this volume, and the person whose collection formed its basis. Edge sunning to boards; near fine, without dust jacket, as issued. [#036429] $650

NY, Knopf, 1983. The first American edition. Warmly inscribed by Richard Adams, author of Watership Down, "To Marilyn with gratitude and all good wishes," and dated December, 1982. Note that the title page of this US edition gives the publication date of 1983, but the copyright page and the dust jacket both bear a 1982 date. Adams and Lockley, in alternating voices throughout the text, tell the story of their 6500 mile journey from Tierra del Fuego, along the coasts and seas of Antarctica, to the southern tip of New Zealand. Heavily illustrated with photographs by Peter Hirst-Smith. Near fine in a very good dust jacket with shallow edge wear. Scarce signed. [#036189] $300

NY, Seven Stories, (2012). An anthology of previously unpublished pieces, as well as excerpts from books, and photographs, addressing the Arctic's role as the tipping point of our environmental future. This copy is inscribed by Banerjee, the editor, in 2013. Contributors include Barry Lopez, John McPhee, Peter Matthiessen, Margaret Murie, George Schaller, the editor Banerjee, and many others. Fine in a fine dust jacket. [#036190] SOLD

(NY), Viking, (2010). Essays by the biochemist and botanist, in which she advocates for the planting and preservation of indigenous trees. Inscribed by the author. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with blurbs by Bill McKibben, Rick Bass, and E.O. Wilson. Later editions of this book, of which there have been at least four more, were subtitled "40 Ways Trees Can Save Us." Uncommon signed or inscribed. [#036191] SOLD

(San Francisco), Jossey-Bass, (2005). The story of The Nature Conservancy and how it has weathered its own internal storms over its nearly 75 years of growth. Signed by the author on the title page and additionally inscribed by Birchard on the half-title in 2007: "For Rich - Here's to protecting all those great places where we can say, 'aha'!" Fine in a fine dust jacket. [#036430] SOLD

NY, Abingdon-Cokesbury Press, (1939). A biography of four men: John Burroughs, Abraham Lincoln, Leo Tolstoy, and Graham Taylor. The Burroughs section runs 35 pages: not definitive, but relatively early, and in interesting company. Small ink stain on the title page, and a few pages of text have random ink markings, not affecting legibility; owner name on flyleaf; near fine in a very good, shallowly edge-chipped dust jacket. Uncommon in jacket. [#035986] $125

South Brunswick/NY, A.S. Barnes, (1969). Kelley, the author of John Burroughs: Naturalist, the director of the John Burroughs Memorial Association, and Burroughs' grand-daughter, here introduces and illustrates a selection of 14 pieces by Burroughs. Also includes an 8-page photo insert. Signed by Elizabeth Burroughs Kelley. Near fine in a very good, rubbed dust jacket, with tears at the spine extremities that have been internally tape-mended. [#036196] $150

NY, Thomas Y. Crowell, (1970). Apparently the first of many biographies of Carson, preceding even Paul Brooks' The House of Life (1972). This volume was published in Crowell's "Women of America" series. Mild splaying to boards; near fine in a very good, price-clipped dust jacket with light rubbing and wear to the edges and folds. Uncommon in the first printing, with many copies having gone to libraries. [#035988] $225

St. Louis, Center for the Biology of Natural Systems, 1975. The partial text (so stated, by design) of Commoner's address before the National Press Photographers Association Education Seminar in Jackson Hole in 1975, on the subject of nuclear energy. Commoner derides the lack of attention paid to the relationship between ecosystems and economic systems. Solutions are given in the following part of the address, not included here. Stapled wrappers: foxing to cover, rust to staples; near fine. No copies in OCLC. [#036236] $250

(NY), Basic Books, (2002). A sobering account of how environmental pollution affects public health and the corporate and political obstacles to action. Signed by the author. Laid into the book is the program for a seminar by Davis given in Rochester in 2003. The program is filled with the participant's notes; the book has some foxing to the top edge and is otherwise fine in a fine dust jacket. [#036434] $275

Boston, Beacon Press, (2017). Eriksen sets out on a boat made of plastic trash to study the oceans and finds, beyond the "Pacific Garbage Patch," that our seas contain a "plastic smog" of permeating microplastics. Includes a history of plastic pollution, a look at the lobbying of the plastics industry, and proposals for a sustainable future. Signed by the author, with the added sentiment "For our oceans!" The author's business card is included. Fine in a fine dust jacket. As usual with the books in this field, very uncommon signed. [#036435] SOLD

White River Junction, Chelsea Green Publishing, (2018). Golbfarb examines the ways in which beavers can be the solution to conservation problems and landscape ecology. Signed by the author on a beaver bookplate. Blurbs by Bill McKibben, Carl Safina, Sy Montgomery, and others. Winner of the PEN E. O. Wilson Award for science writing. Fine in a fine dust jacket. [#036195] $175

NY, Basic Books, (2011). Winner of the 2013 John Burroughs Medal, this is a far-reaching, high-flying story of an evolutionary marvel: the feather is light, strong, flexible, insulating, water-repellent, and also decorative. Signed by the author, with a drawing of a feather. Blurbs by Peter Matthiessen, Bernd Heinrich and Robert Michael Pyle, among others. Fine in a fine dust jacket, with a book review laid in. Uncommon signed. [#036436] $250

NY, Basic Books, (2018). The John Burroughs Medal-winning author of Feathers takes on the long evolution and recent decline of the insects responsible for a third of our food supply, besides being fascinating in their own right. This copy is signed by the author, with a drawing of a bee alongside his signature. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with the upper outer corners tapped. [#036437] $200

Woodstock, Overlook Press, (2008). Signed by Kelly and inscribed by Jacobs: "Mickey - a brown drama for a warming age. Hope it's instructive." The authors examine decades of fits and starts in clearing the Californian air in this "cautionary tale of environmental crisis." Tanning to page edges, else fine in a fine dust jacket bearing an Independent Publisher Book Awards label. Scarce signed. [#035992] $250

Chelsea, Chelsea Green Publishing Company, (1988). Winner of the 1989 John Burroughs Medal. Signed by the author on the title page. As the title suggests, not just a book about birds, but also about how to observe them. With a foreword by the 1971 Burroughs Medal winner, John K. Terres. Light foredge foxing; nonauthorial gift inscription on the front flyleaf. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. [#036197] $350

Boulder, Johnson Books, (1998). The simultaneous wrappered edition of the author's tribute to Glen Canyon and her time spent on the Colorado River, prior to the construction of the 1963 dam that drowned the canyon and created Lake Powell. Inscribed by the author: "For David, A hiker down to the river -- wrong color now, but --- there'll come a day -- Katie Lee." (Prior to the dam, the river was a sediment-filled red; the dam trapped the sediment, leaving the water a clear green.) Lee, who died in 2017 at the age of 98, was known as "the Desert Goddess of Glen Canyon" and was an iconic figure to a generation of environmental activists who came after her. Her wish for the Colorado River to again run free through Glen Canyon may one day come true. Lower corner creases to covers; else fine in wrappers. Introduction by Terry Tempest Williams. Signed first printings are scarce. [#035995] $300

NY, Scribner's, 1978. The uncorrected proof copy of his third book, winner of the John Burroughs Medal as the best work of natural history published that year, and a nominee for the National Book Award. A remarkable and unlikely bestseller: the book was reprinted numerous times, brought into a new edition by the publisher (in a smaller format), picked up by the Book of the Month Club, and became a significant commercial success in a trade paperback edition as well. It attempts to explore the wolf both in the objective world and in the subjective ways that humans have seen and imagined it throughout history. This proof copy was printed with the original title, The Book of the Wolf, on the cover and the title page; the ultimate title has been written in by hand on the cover. A fragile, padbound proof with covers beginning to separate at the spine base; several scuff and spots to cover and a handful of page corners turned. Name of author and reviewer Ethel Jacobson across the front cover. A very good copy. A landmark in natural history writing. [#036475] $350

NY, Farrar Straus, (1986). The third of McPhee's geology books, later incorporated into the Pulitzer Prize-winning compendium of his geological writings, Annals of the Former World. This copy is inscribed by McPhee to Joe McCrindle, founder of the Transatlantic Review, who published McPhee's "The Fair of San Gennaro" in 1961, four years before his first book publication, which may explain the geological inscription: "For Joe McCrindle/ a friend since the middle Miocene/ best always/ John McPhee." Slight foxing to the top edge, else fine in a fine dust jacket with just a hint of spine fading. A nice association. [#036492] $450

NY, Frederick Warne, (1931). The 1933 John Burroughs Medal Winner. Inscribed by the author: "For Helen E. Nickerson, with kind regards of her friend, the author, Oliver Perry Medsger/ State College, Pa, July 12, 1934." Medsger won the Burroughs Medal for the 4-volume sequence of Spring, Summer, Autumn, Fall, of which this one, Spring, was the first. This is a near fine copy, with minor wear to the corners and spine ends, in a very good dust jacket with light wear to the spine ends and folds. Scarce in jacket, and remarkably so signed. [#036491] $750

NY, Knopf, 1966. Inscribed by Margaret "Mardy" Murie, conservationist, naturalist, and recipient of the Audubon Medal, the John Muir Award, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom: "For Joan Wilson/ Every good wish from many more happy trips in 'Wapiti Wilderness'/ Mardy Murie." This book was co-authored with her husband, Olaus, who died prior to publication. Mardy was known as the "Grandmother of the Conservation Movement" and was a mentor to a generation of younger environmentalists. A very near fine copy in a very good, lightly edgeworn, price-clipped dust jacket, close to splitting at the front spine fold. [#035997] $450

Boston, Little Brown, (1948). A prescient book (1948) by the President of the New York Zoological Society, warning of the effects of the increasing global depletion of natural resources: water, soil, forests, and biodiversity. Blurbs by Aldous Huxley and Eleanor Roosevelt, among others. Less common than it seems, as many "firsts" fail to state "first edition" on the copyright page. Penciled notes on front flyleaf and underlinings in text; a very good copy in a good, edge-chipped dust jacket rubbed along the folds. [#035998] $350

NY, Viking, (1986). An environmental classic, listed on Modern Library's top 100 nonfiction books of the 20th century and a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. A revised edition was issued in 1993; a documentary film was made in 1997. This copy is signed by Reisner, who died of cancer in 2000. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with a bit of shelfwear and some age-toning to the flaps. Very uncommon signed. [#036441] $750

NY, Norton, (2016). An association copy: inscribed by Rich to Michael Pollan: "With thanks to the brilliant Michael Pollan, whose insights in Second Nature greatly influenced this book." Rich attempts to summon the early days of conservation, when there was conservative support, and takes the Greens to task for drifting too far from a viable environmental center. Fine in a fine dust jacket. [#036474] SOLD

Boston, Little Brown, (1968). A collection of essays by the New Yorker writer, most on the theme of wildlife conservation. Inscribed by the author. Roueche was perhaps better known as a medical writer: his book The Medical Detectives was one of the inspirations for the television series House and he won several awards for his writings in that field. Near fine in a very good, rubbed and price-clipped dust jacket. [#036202] $275

San Francisco, Sierra Club Books, (2007). A retrospective collection of pieces from Schaller's life in the field, with a new introduction by the author for each chapter. Warmly inscribed by Schaller in 2009: "To Catherine and Bill/ with deep gratitude for many years of friendship." Fine in a fine dust jacket, with blurbs by a virtual Who's Who of environmental writing: Peter Matthiessen; Jane Goodall; Bill McKibben; and Edward O. Wilson. Schaller, among many other accomplishments and activities, accompanied Matthiessen on the trip documented in the National Book Award-winning, The Snow Leopard. [#036480] $300

NY, Scribner, (2006). In the spirit of Edwin Way Teale's North with the Spring (Florida to New Hampshire, 1951), Stutz takes a (very indirect) 3-month journey chasing spring from Louisiana to Alaska, 55 years later. Inscribed by the author: "To Lee & Ellen/ Enjoy this journey and all of your own, Best/ Bruce/ 7/27/07." Fine in a fine dust jacket. [#036204] $225

NY, Viking, (1979). His second collection of essays, after The Lives of the Cell won two National Book Awards in 1975. Signed by the author. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with a short, closed edge tear to the upper front panel. [#036205] $250

San Francisco, Sierra Club/Yolla Bolly Press, (1983). His third book, winner of the1984 John Burroughs Medal. Inscribed by the author: "To Raymond and Mary Ellen Haight/ with best wishes/ David Rains Wallace/ 3/17/83." Evolution, mythology, and Sasquatch mix amid the ecosystems of the Northwest's Klamath Mountains. Published by the Sierra Club. A fine copy in a very good, unlaminated jacket with strips of sunning, light edge wear and a 2" tear at the lower rear spine fold. Scarce signed. The Haights were long-time residents of San Francisco: Raymond's great grandfather, Henry Huntley Haight, was governor of California, and among other accomplishments, has a famous street named for him. [#036000] $350

(London), (Short Books), (2018). A tremendous tour through all things snow: its joys and terrors; its past and its future. This copy is inscribed by the author in the year of publication. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Scarce signed. Later published as The Secret Life of Snow. [#036001] SOLD