Forthcoming Title

                                                                              
Just learned about this forthcoming title: The Unfeathered Bird by Katrina van Grouw (formerly Katrina Cook). It's due out Fall/Autumn 2012 (Princeton University Press).
      From the author's website: A collection of over 300 fine anatomical drawings reflecting the diversity of bird forms. The skull of a Shoebill, skeleton of a Hoatzin, and the remarkable coiled windpipe of Birds of Paradise are just a few of the exotic gems to be found amongst more familiar birds; but birds as you’ve never seen them before. The majority of these drawings represent birds in living postures: flying, sleeping, feeding and displaying. As well as a representative selection from the 10,000 or so wild species, the book also covers domestic variations achieved by selective breeding, including many of the pigeon varieties kept by Charles Darwin which were so important to his theory of Natural Selection.

     The book is arranged according to an 18th Century taxonomy based around simple anatomical features, and has something of the classical flavour of the illustrated natural history works of the past. Its impact is primarily visual, and the concise, accompanying texts are aimed at the layman and free from scientific jargon.

More artwork from this fortthcoming book can be found here: http://www.unfeatheredbird.com/theunfeatheredbird/theunfeatheredbird-gallery.html