The World's Most Beautiful Seashells (Worlds Most Series) | 
 enlarge | Author: Leonard C. Hill
Creator: James H. Carmichael
Publisher: Carmichael & Carmichael
Category: Book
List Price: $34.95
Buy New: $21.92
You Save: $13.03 (37%)
New (23) Used (8) from $19.95
Avg. Customer Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 109486
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 2 Sub
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 240
Shipping Weight (lbs): 4.2
Dimensions (in): 12.1 x 11.3 x 1
ISBN: 1884942032
Dewey Decimal Number: 551
EAN: 9781884942037
ASIN: 1884942032
Publication Date: October 1995
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New, Perfect Condition, Please allow 4-14 business days for delivery. 100% Money Back Guarantee, Over 1,000,000 customers served.
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Review
As a child, I found few things more fascinating than seashells: from the age of 10 until 15, I would often stay awake all night classifying and sorting shells that friends and family had sent me from around the world, and my most joyous summers were spent on the coasts of Maine, North Carolina, Florida, Washington, and Puerto Rico, gathering shells from the briny wrack. As an adult, I have encountered few more beautifully illustrated volumes of seashells than this book. All of my favorites are here: the wentletraps, resembling elaborate spiral staircases (and so valued for their beauty in the 1800s that a clandestine industry of counterfeit wentletraps made of rice paste developed in China); the Venus Comb Murex, which has the beauty of a goddess's most prized hairbrush; the humble but lavishly calligraphed Nerites; and other extraordinarily colorful or structurally elaborate homes of homely molluscs. (This book also provides good evidence for my hypothesis that indigenous architectures of a region are influenced by the architecture of indigenous organisms.) An absolutely stunning book, and sure to be a source of inspiration for children, naturalists, and artists.
Product Description
The World's Most Beautiful Seashells won the Coffee Table Book Award of the National Association of Independent Publishers for 1996. It contains 305 large format, full color photographs of rare and lovely seashells. The photographer is James H. (Pete) Carmichael, whose nature photography has appeared widely in magazines such as Audobon, National Wildlife, Ranger Rick, etc. Pete is especially well-known for his work with shells, butterflies, and rainforests. The text is by Leonard Hill, a lifetime shell enthusiast, and a biologist employed by the US government who monitors the health of the oceans. At $32.95 in hardcover, the book has been considered an excellent value, and makes a great acquisition to the library of shell and nature enthusiasts.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
Best Seashell Images in One Book August 20, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is truly the BEST book on seashells IMHO. I love it for the images are incredible - so much so that the photography seems almost 3-D in some instances. The high quality of the images and information (and obvious love for the subject by the author) is unbelievable when you look at the cost for this treasure. It is a bargain for what you gain - beauty, artistry of nature, knowledge of many varieties of mollusks, and unique images not seen in other shell books (many in my own library). This is my favorite of all seashell books, unless I am exploring on the shore when a guidebook is more appropriate. Yes, this is quality coffee table book...but one that will be picked up by you and your guests more frequently than your other books.
Do not miss nor underestimate this marvel February 6, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
First of all, I echo all the positive comments already made by other reviewers.
This book is dangerous, in the best sense!
I am a bookworm and consider this one of my favorite books. (It is also incredibly cheap for the quality, and this is true for the hardcover version as well. You should only go for the hardcover version, see below.) It is nourishing to the soul, a delight to any seashell collector, and has surprised, touched and impressed all the non-collectors I have shown it to. I started collecting seashells a year ago and bought this book back then. It has made me immediately aware of the surprising level of beauty that can be found in well-selected specimens, even among very affordable species. It has done this at least as much as the finer photographs on seashell websites online (e.g. femorale, gastropods, topseashells).
The photographs are stunning. Among other qualities, very vibrant, very rich in colour: exquisitely photographed and printed. The scanned sample pages available here on amazon give but a dimmed impression of the actual printed pages.
Rarely have I seen a photographer demonstrate their deep love for their subject this directly and this well. I find that a lot of seashells photographs in other publications simply do not come close to the passion, beauty, communication, feeling, inventiveness and art found in each photograph here. (I am a passionate photographer - have been since a young age - and have been trying my hand at taking beautiful close-ups of seashells for the last year. These attempts have only deepened my appreciation of the photographs in this book.)
This book contains an average of about 2 colour photographs for each page, and close to 2000 specimens and at least 500 species/forms (I counted one day when sick in bed :-). Many photographs show several specimens and/or species combined fruitfully. Others concentrate on a single shell, sometimes taking up the entire page. All have very well chosen and crafted backgrounds - either lush, saturated colors or various more recognizable themes. The only exception is found in one page composed of photographs each of a specimen of a different volute species shown with their incredibly beautiful live animal mantles deployed underneath the shell; these are the only photographs with a plain back background. You will enjoy a selection of the finest examples of the - cheap, affordable and expensive - species and forms the authors, all long-time collectors, deemed among the most beautiful. They bring you super-selected gem specimens from their personal collections and from a number of other personal collections they borrowed from. All this combines to draw you into looking at the shell more carefully, longer and with your aesthetic eye opened up - not something easily done by any means.
The texts contain all kinds of interesting information, some apparently not necessarily known even to very seasoned collectors, as mentioned in other reviews. It is true that there is no detailed index by species, but in this case it doesn't matter too much: if you own a copy you will be looking at it often and will soon start remembering which specimens are included and where. The sections are organized by families.
My only wish, my only suggestion for improvement, honestly, is for James Carmichael to publish a sequel of the same size even now that Leonard Hill, alas, has passed away at a young age. Perhaps not likely but we can dream, no?
(Added a few months later: in the meantime I've found another book they have co-authored, years earlier, called "Shells: Treasures of the Sea". It is also a very worthwhile book with many photographs and much more text than in this book - it is the earlier book in which Hill writes on many aspects of shells including the cultural ones. The photographs are also by James Carmichael, but they are not as fantastic as in the newer "World's Most ..." book: you can see him going in the direction which he has almost perfected in the later book. So my wish remains: for this photographer to consider publishing a sequel with photographs of the same excellence... there are still many more beautiful species and alternate specimens / forms to choose among ... again, not likely at all but a wish nonetheless.)
So do not hesitate and buy yourself a copy. It would be hard to imagine that you will be dissapointed. Even if you are not a seashell lover or collector but enjoy beauty and enthusiasm.
Do get the hardcover version as this book is tall and wide and heavy. The covers of a softcover copy will certainly start bending and cracking very soon. The difference in price is small and in this case not worth saving on.
Expect to dive into this book often. With, dare I say?, love... And expect to become even more mad about seashells.
Fantastic shell book August 30, 2006
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
This book is pure eye candy for shell lovers. The photographs are beautiful and the close ups allow you to see the fine detail of many shells. This book can also be used as a shell identification reference as the photos are clearly annotated with the names of the shells.
Great for beach lovers August 7, 2006
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
My wife purchased this book for our beach house and we decided to keep a copy for ourselves at home. It has every shell that you could ever dream of. Our kids love the book because they can look up shells that they have found in the book and see what they are called and what use to live inside of them.
It is great for anyone that has a room or bathroom using seashells or an ocean decoration theme.
Very good book!
Much more then expected June 28, 2006
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
This book is not by any means scientific.
This book is not an identification guide.
The species list is obviously very incomplete.
but...
Truly marvelous, large-format photography of only the best of the best GEM specimens. Each with a short description, which is VERY interesting to read - these are some real facts about the shells and not the description of what you can see on the photo. I consider myself an advanced collector, and this book is a real relief after reading some of the more advanced publications on shell collecting. An excellent source for some real-life knowledge. Highly recommended - both for collectors, or just anyone.
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