Zoological Illustrations, Volume 3

William SwainsonProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.6

Word count: 167K words
Chapters: 17

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today. Zoological Illustrations, Volume 3 by William Swainson. Author: Swainson, William, 1789-1855. Language: English. Class: QL: Science: Zoology. Release Date: Apr 18, 2012

Editor's review

This is the English electronic edition of Volume 3 of Zoological Illustrations by the British naturalist William Swainson, digitized and released by Project Gutenberg. The book belongs to the nineteenth-century tradition of zoological illustrated plate works, with explanatory captions, and reflects the period's observational records of animal morphology and classification. Its value lies not in cutting-edge scientific conclusions but in its documentary significance for the history of science and natural history illustration: readers can learn about nineteenth-century conventions of animal description, classificatory frameworks, and illustrated publishing. For those studying the history of scientific communication, the natural history tradition, or early illustrated books, it is a usable public-domain primary source. Readers should note that the classifications and nomenclature in the book may have been superseded by later disciplinary developments and should not be used directly as a basis for modern zoological identification. The electronic edition allows full-text searching and is suited to consultation as historical material rather than continuous reading.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Researchers in the history of science and natural history who need nineteenth-century primary sources
Zoology students learning about the discipline's early descriptive and classificatory traditions
Enthusiasts of natural history illustration and scientific plates examining early illustrated publishing formats
Libraries or digital humanities projects supplementing public-domain scientific literature collections

Not a good fit for

Readers looking for a modern zoological identification manual
Beginners hoping to read a systematic zoology textbook
General readers interested only in contemporary color field guides

Reading tips

Begin with the table of contents and plate captions to understand the animal groups covered in this volume and the organizing logic
Compare the classificatory names in the book with current classifications and note changes in terminology and framework
Read alongside background material on the history of science, avoiding the mistake of taking historical descriptions as modern conclusions
Use as searchable historical material as needed; it is not necessary to read from beginning to end

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Are the illustrations in this book in color?

The source does not specify the exact presentation of the illustrations. This is a Project Gutenberg electronic text, usually consisting mainly of text and captions; illustrations may be handled in black and white or embedded, and the actual files should be checked.

Are the animal classifications in the book still usable today?

This is a nineteenth-century zoological work, and its classification system and nomenclature have changed considerably with the development of the discipline. It is better suited as a reference for the history of science and should not be used directly for modern species identification.

Is it suitable as an introductory zoology reader?

Not really. The book is a historical document and lacks the systematic framework and updated knowledge of modern zoology. Beginners should choose contemporary textbooks; this book is better read as supplementary historical material after gaining some background.

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About the author

William Swainson Author · British (English) · 1789–1855

William Swainson (1789–1855) was a British naturalist, ornithologist, malacologist, entomologist and illustrator, born in London and elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1820. He travelled to Brazil and Sicily in his early years, moved to New Zealand in 1841, and died in the Hutt Valley, New Zealand. Swainson is known for the coloured lithographic illustrations in Zoological Illustrations, published across several volumes and a second series; this library holds six related works by him. In his writing and drawing he gave equal weight to images and textual descriptions, attending closely to the detailed forms of species, and he was an important practitioner of the nineteenth-century natural history illustration tradition. Public information is limited, and details of his life and scholarly assessment await further research; the present introduction focuses chiefly on his works.