A love of books

Natural History books by Conrad Gessner — Historia animalium by Conrad Gessner 1587

Natural history books have always been popular. Over the years, I’ve collected dozens if not hundreds of books on subjects as diverse as marine fish to desert plants and elephants to butterflies. Some are huge coffee table books, others are simple paperbacks. They all have one thing in common – they’re about wildlife and the wonders of natural world.

If you love books like this I hope you’ll enjoy MantisPress.

I originally set this site up years ago as www.mantispress.co.za when I lived in South Africa. That changed to www.mantispress.co.uk in 2010. This site was revamped in early 2018.

Click the link to see my books or wander the other menu items to discover other natural history books.

The history of natural history books

Natural History books by Phil Robinson — Noahs' Ark by Phil Robinson 1882

Pliny’s Natural History written around 77AD was possibly the first popular natural history book and remained a best seller for centuries.

In 1587, Conrad Gessner published his ground-breaking tome, Historia animalium. This was the first ‘modern’ attempt to catalogue the known wildlife of his day. With its five volumes running over 4,500 pages, it was a valiant attempt - in spite of the inclusion of unicorns.

Among the oldest books in my collection are those written by my great-grandfather, Phil Robinson, in the 1880s. According to Wikisource, he was one of the pioneers of Anglo-Indian literature, and was foremost in writing about the natural history of India.

Documentaries on TV have given us amazing insight into the daily lives of animals and wildlife. But the depth of information is often limited. There is nothing like a well-written book to fill the blanks left by heavily-edited TV footage. Then we can grasp the true wonders and complexities of life. And turning the pages and studying the photographs at leisure is a great way to broaden the mind.

MantisPress

On this site you’ll find references to books I’ve written on chameleons and insects. But you’ll also find details of other natural history books. Books that I’ve enjoyed reading. Some are still in print and there are links to Amazon if you want to enjoy them first hand. Others are no longer available new and you’ll have to scour second hand bookshops.

If you have any books about natural history you like, let me know. I look forward to any comments or suggestions you wish to share.