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Aquarium and Natural History Books

Some books in this thread are on my list for sure.
Currently my collection isn’t huge and I have to admit some are still unread :bookworm::eek:
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Same as ady i have a small collection but havnt read all of them recently got sunken gardens on ebay for £7 so not read that yet, i have had to re purchase the ada books as had them then sold them but i now have them back and wanting a few more, love the look of the aquarium plants book bu Christina kasselmann what i will buy eventually along with origin of creation but agree i love physical books. Here is my small collection and i will get round to them at some point.
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When I was an 80s kid and got my first tank early 90s, I also got an aquarium book with it that I loved. I recently found it again and thought id share some pages of nostalgia. Its in dutch, but I still love the drawings. Its by Hans Frey published in 1960, title 'aquariumhouden blahblahblahblah u ook' (roughly translates into 'you too can keep aquariums'). A few pictures of some of my favorite pages. Its fun to see how despite being ancient much still applies. Using nature as example above all.
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Looks like a lovely book, the illustrations are gorgeous. It looks to be ahead of it's time, almost, guess it's showing you how to collect hardscape?

It's funny how things like this just take you back. I remember a Tropical fish encyclopaedia I had as a child, been trying to find a copy, but the front cover of that just takes me back to the wonder of fish keeping.
 
Looks like a lovely book, the illustrations are gorgeous. It looks to be ahead of it's time, almost, guess it's showing you how to collect hardscape?

It's funny how things like this just take you back. I remember a Tropical fish encyclopaedia I had as a child, been trying to find a copy, but the front cover of that just takes me back to the wonder of fish keeping.
Yeah these pages detail collecting hardscape and what to avoid, planning the lay-out and plants etc. The encyclopaedia wouldn't happen to be this one? Also found again recently :) amazing drawings...

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Nice book @Wolf6, I might try and get hold of a copy. This was my bible growing up, and still is my favourite aquarist book of all time. Similarly edited by a Dutchman. Way before it’s time and still very much relevant, even though it was first published in the 1970s. It lives up to its title more than any book I've come across before and since with, amongst other things, sections on plants, fish disease, aquascaping, and a comprehensive section on fish that’d be the envy of Seriously Fish.

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Oh and the (well worn) cover:
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What I like the most about that picture is the algae in the background... It was the most common welcome and decorative thing to see, there was no aquarium complete without it. Moss? I don't know if anybody knew about moss, decorative hardscape was all about aufwuchs and algae back then. That's all we knew.
 
When I got first house in 80s there was aquarium shop locally very good In those times the shop was packed to the rafters on Saturday suppose not much flexible working then and the owner had quite a lot fascinated as he tied java moss to bogwood and one of the displays a little more than bogstandard plants and fish. It was full of crypts with a eye catching group of Congo Tetras . All pretty much not unusual now but then
 
Found this book in a local charity shop, The Oxford Book of Flowerless Plants. I spotted the title on the spine and thought it was intriguing. It was published in 1966 which perhaps explains it. It has the most amazing full colour plates.

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That's amazing! I bet those colour plates were also published as Classroom/School posters... :) These are even harder to find from that era, at least the original ones, some printshops offer replicas which are actually too brand new and on the wrong paper.

The originals obviously always end up in some retired scholars' study at home picked from the dusty attic of old school buildings.

Actually worth a pretty penny if you would find one from this era in good condition...
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whats the best current book for plants?
 
I use dozens of books for my work, both with artwork & photographic images. You can't beat some of the older books for quality. Even the aquatics books have some nuggets of information which are still true today though a plant book from the 60s wouldn't have plants like buce or the modern hybrids of echinodorus etc. I shall definitely be putting The Oxford Book of Flowerless Plants on my 'wanted' list!
 
Took delivery of this today. It’s a bit battered but it’s 50 years old. Despite that though it has some nice colour plates both photos and drawings.
It also has sections on classification, identification and propagation. It’s relatively straightforward and uncomplicated. Perhaps a reminder of simpler times.

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