As part of the Gutenberg Project to make available copyright-free (i.e. old) books available in print online, I came across Within the Deep by R. Cadwallader Smith as part of Cassell’s “Eyes and No Eyes” Series Book VIII. I have no idea to the original print date but I am guessing mid to late 1800s by the look of the plates and figures. I really love and admire old texts, especially those many figures as does this one. The art was so descriptive and inspiring then, before the age of computer animation.
The lessons, or chaptes, include such grand subjects as:
- Fish For Breakfast
- The Story of the Flatfish
- Seals
- Some Strange Nurseries
- The Ogre of the Deep
- The Whale Tigers of the Sea
- The Dangers of the Deep
- The Fish of Our Rock Pools
- Some Curious Fishes
- The Garden of the Sea
It is really worth the read and a look at the figures. Also by R. Cadwallader Smith is On the Seashore where you sea hermit crabs with “sea flowers”!
The Kunstformen der Natur (http://caliban.mpiz-koeln.mpg.de/~stueber/haeckel/kunstformen/natur.html) plates from Ernst Haeckel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Haeckel) are pretty awesome as well.
You probably already know this link to the 19th century masterpiece of deep sea research, the Challenger Reports:
http://www.19thcenturyscience.org/HMSC/HMSC-INDEX/index-linked.htm
However, I think the most beautiful figures of all are the fish drawings of the Valdivia Expedition, sadly these are not online (yet?).
Thanks for the link Alexandra!
I am familiar with the site through their anemone descriptions and it is easy to get lost in the all the pages and plates on the website.
Sadly, many folk don’t know the importance of these (much) earlier publications and focus what is new, now and in.