The Mammals of Great Britain and Ireland by J.G. Millais
These three volumes are truly momentous in many ways. For starters, just seeing them on the shelf makes you wonder what subject could justify such large tomes, being three inches thick, fourteen inches high and thirteen inches wide as well as weighing over five kilograms each. Well, if you are strong enough to lift the books and open them up, beneath the plain and rather dull covers lie some of the most beautiful and informative illustrations on mammals I have ever seen.
Considering the timing of publication of this book, first published in 1904, much had been discovered of the anatomy of many mammals by the "Desk Zoologist without Experience" as the author puts it. But there was a lack of knowledge in another two main areas which the author hoped to put right with this publication. These were firstly "Good pictures both in colour and black and white, drawn from life" and secondly "exact information on the distribution and the life history of the various species."
With regard to enjoying the book from a modern day perspective, Millais definitely achieves point one. With regard to point two, I think he has made a very healthy effort but with modern advancements and the inevitable changes over time, other more specialist books are probably more detailed. Having said this, it is still intriguing to read his descriptions of the various mammals and where they were found in the early 1900's.
Millais, who also wrote The Wildfowler in Scotland and The Natural History of the British Surface-feeding Ducks, spent more than five years in the preparation of this book. What shocked me from reading the preface was that he was granted unlimited funds by the publisher to enable him to research and study the animals in question. His particular and varied interests were in bats, mice and seals and the book starts with a detailed examination of British bats which includes many of the author's own illustrations. Interestingly the book also includes information about a few species extinct in Britain, including the brown bear, beaver and reindeer.
Initially J.G. Milliais wished to complete all of the illustrations in this book himself, but this would have meant delaying the publication of the book by some six or seven years. He sought the help of his friends Mr. Archibald Thorburn who has illustrated many bird books, and Mr. George Lodgewho drew many of the bat species from life or immediately after the death of the unfortunate creature.
Considering that this book must have been a masterpiece of its time and was intended as a master reference book formammals, I find it surprising that the publisher decided to issue the book as a limited edition, limited to only 1,025 copies. Copies of these volumes are therefore hard to find and, with them being such beautifully illustrated books, the price reflects the quality and scarcity. At the time of writing Stella Books has copy number 714 for sale at a price of £750. All the images you see in this article have been taken from these volumes.
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Contributed by Adam Parker.
(Published 10th Dec 2014)
