Here is a fantastic opportunity to acquire important books for your study and enjoyment!
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THE JURASSIC FLORA OF YORKSHIRE by J.H.A van Konijnenburg-van Cittert If you are one of those wood collectors who also collect the leaves and cones preserved in sedimentary compression/impression fossils, this is a really interesting book. Here's a quote from the introduction: "The Middle Jurassic Ravenscar Group of Yorkshire yields some of the most abundant and diverse plant fossils found anywhere in Britain. Some 260 species have been collected from more than 600 plant beds in the region, a number which reflects the flora's long and detailed history of research." Wood collectors will recognize the plant order taxons of the Ginkgoales, Cycadales, Bennettitales and Coniferales - all of which are represented in the fossil wood record. This handy guide also describes taxons and localities for an additional half dozen orders that might not be so familiar but some of which also produce interesting cones and leaves as well stems in the compression/impression record. This is a very fine condition trade paperback loaded with illustratons for use in comparing fossils you may have fround in the region during seaside excursions. $10 |
ASSEMBLING CALIFORNIA
by John McPhee This is the final volume in McPhee's trilogy of Annals of the Former World in which he traces the geology of North America all the way from the east coast to the west coast. In Assembling California, the main geologic topic is plate tectonics and how those geologic forces shaped what the world looks like today. McPhee is a true investigative reporter and journalist who lets his interviews of experts in the subject really tell the story. McPhee's talent is the ability to ask the right questions at the right times and then summarize the answers in wonderfully readable text. If you have an interest in the forces of geology and would like to know more about plate tectonics or add to your current knowledge, this is the book to start off your journey! Hardcover copy in very fine condition with a perfect bookcover. $10 |
FOSSIL PLANTS FROM WALES
by Michael Bassett and Dianne Edwards Published in 1982 by the National Museum of Wales, this large format paperback contains great information about the far western of appendage of the United Kingdom - Wales or Cmyru in the Welsh language. There are illustrations of some really spectacular plant fossils found in Wales and now in the National Museum of Wales. It is enough to make one plan a rockhounding trip to Wales to seek some of them! $8 |
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GUIDE TO THE FOSSIL PLANTS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM (NATURAL HISTORY) by Anon An old 1935 publication loaded with good drawings of some of the treasures in the museum. Perhaps the most important illustrations for wood collectors are the frontispiece full color lithograph of Walter Spradbery's rendition of a Coal Measures Forest. It is an impressive piece of art. Also in this interesting volume is a B&W photo of the appropriately named Cycadeoidea gigantea nearly four feet tall and one of the largest trunks of the species ever found. It was recovered from the Purbeck Beds at Portland. A really quite interesting little guide. $15 |
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THE MAN WHO FOUND TIME - JAMES HUTTON AND THE DISCOVERY OF THE EARTH'S ANTIQUITY by Jack Repcheck As collectors of petrified wood, we are are fascinated by the length of time that wood has actually been alive on earth. James Hutton is considered by many to be the founder of the principles of stratigraphy and this biography of his life and times is a wonderful read -- as well as being quite instructive of the geology behind it. We visited Siccar Point in Scotland in 2008 after reading this 2003 book about the importance of the place in geologic history and the influence it had on Hutton. Repcheck is an author with a good view of his potential audience and tells the story in terms easily understandable by non-professional geologists. This is a hardback copy in near perfect, original condition with a flawless book cover as well. $8 |
THE GOSHEN FLORA OF WEST CENTRAL OREGON
by Ralph W. Cheney and Ethel I. Sanborn Published by the Carnegie Institute of Washington in May 1933 as Publication 439, this fossil flora is identical in age to the Sweet Home Petrified Forest that has provided collectors with so many fabulous specimens over the decades. Cheney and Sanborn are giants in paleobotany of the Western USA and their lists of fossil flora is a valuable tool for identifying wood taxons that should be the first ones that are compared in the Insidewood website to see what your specimen taxon might be. Comparison between photomicrographs of your specimen against images on the Insidewood website are easier when you can make a priority list of which ones to look at first. Since most collectors do not want to cut their specimen to make thin sections of all three planes (transverse, radial and tangential) it can be difficult working out a complete characteristic form on the inside wood website. We have a wide selection of these kinds of fossil floras in our own library and suggest it as a great strategy for our collector friends to compile as well. $35 |
LIFE IN STONE - A NATURAL HISTORY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA'S FOSSILS
by Rolf Ludvigsen A comprehensive look at all of the fossil resources of the far west Canada Province. Two dozen chapters by nearly twenty different authors which spans over 300 pages. Three chapters in particular are of great interest to fossil plant and wood collectors. One deals with plant life during the great Cretaceous transformation with the development of Angiosperms while two others deal with the Eocene lakes and Eocene conifers for which British Columbia is quite well known in the paleobotany community. There is even a chapter on the Quaternary plants and landscapes through the different ice ages that have brought us to the current conditions. While this is a "used" copy, it does not appear to have ever been fully opened. It is a Trade Paperback in "like new" condition. We predict that you will also be enthralled with the chapters on trilobites, the Burgess Shale, and all of the other fascinating fossil history of B.C. $10 |
TREES
by Roland Ennos What can be more appropriate for petrified wood lovers than a book devoted to trees before they become petrified! This is a layperson approach to the subject and covers the how and why of technical topics (like how they lift water and how they manage to stand so erect) in a totally understandable way along with numerous illustrations to enhance the descriptions. Survival strategies, different climates, trees specializing in different habitats like deserts, riversides, tundra, etc are also included. This is a book published originally by the Natural History Museum of London and subsequently distributed by the Smithsonian so you know it has received the review and approval of folks who are expert in explaning complex subjects to laypersons. Very gently used so it is a real bargain at $10 |
PLANT - THE ULTIMATE VISUAL REFERENCE TO PLANTS AND FLOWERS OF THE WORLD
by Janet Marinelli Large format, very heavy, incredibly illustrated book that delivers exactly what it claims - an ultimate visual reference for the plant kingdom. A whopping 512 pages of information on living plants. The compilation includes coniferous and angiosperm trees, cacti and succulents, palms and cycads, ferns, grasses and bamboos, and herbaceous plants. There is even a special section for carnivorous plants. We have had and used our copy of this book in our own library for several years and continue to find it very useful - especially in helping to visualize what our fossil plants may have looked like when they were alive. $15 |
ECOLOGY OF THE SOUTHERN CONIFERS
by Neal Enright & Robert Hill If you have wondered what became of all of those fossil woods of the Mesozoic, this book will enlighten you about their modern descendants (hint: the Araucarias and Podocarps ended up exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere). The authors, both of whom are academics in Australian Universities, go into some details about the survival of these southern conifer families during the late Tertiary and the status of them today in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and South America. This book was published by the Smithsonian Institution Press in 1995 and was one of the first studies to examine the factors that lead to the ability of these Southern Conifers to compete with Southern Hemisphere angiosperms (which was certainly not their experience when competing with Northern Hemisphere angiosperms). $15 |
FLOWERING PLANT FAMILIES OF THE WORLD
by V.H. Heywood, R.K. Brummitt, A. Culham & O. Seberg An alphabetical listing of all flowering plant families with descriptions of flowers, habit (shrub tree, herbaceous plant, etc. Very well illustrated with comprehensive text. 424 pages and well-indexed with manor genera of families in the index. A very useful book for the botany enthusiast. Large format and quite heavy. $15 |
AMERICAN FOSSIL CYCADS
by George Reber Wieland This is a reprinted set of the two volumes as originally published by Wieland in 1923. There is extensive text and extensive illustration. There is simply an incredible amount of information in these reprints. Oddly, it seems that Volume 2 is always ascribed to "Anonymous" rather than to Professor Wieland despite the fact that his name appears on the reprinted title page. Wieland was professor of paleontology at Yale University and he was responsible for the establishment of Cycad National Monument in South Dakota. Some critics say he was also responsible for the elimination of Cycad National Monument from the National Park System because he carted off most of the specimens from the National Monument to Yale University where they now rest in the basement of the Paleontology Museum - many of them with core bored out of the trunk as a result of Wieland's scientific inquiries into the nature of these interesting plants fossils. As a result, the national monument was devoid of the namesake cycads and was therefore dropped from the National Park System. Both volumes are included for the price of $45 |