The New Naturalist Library (also known as ''The New Naturalists'') is a series of books published by

Collins Collins may refer to: People Surname Given name * Collins O. Bright (1917–?), Sierra Leonean diplomat * Collins Chabane (1960–2015), South African Minister of Public Service and Administration * Collins Cheboi (born 1987), Kenyan middle- ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, on a variety of natural history topics relevant to the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

. The aim of the series at the start was: "To interest the general reader in the wild life of Britain by recapturing the inquiring spirit of the old naturalists."Guy Mountfort, ''The Hawfinch''. Collins, 1957. An editors' preface to a 1952 monograph says: "An object of the ''New Naturalist'' series is the recognition of the many-sidedness of British natural history, and the encouragement of unusual and original developments of its forgotten or neglected facets." The first volume to appear was

E.B. Ford Edmund Brisco "Henry" Ford (23 April 1901 – 2 January 1988) was a British ecological geneticist. He was a leader among those British biologists who investigated the role of natural selection in nature. As a schoolboy Ford became interested i ...

's ''Butterflies'' in 1945. The authors of this series are usually eminent experts, often professional scientists. This gives the series authority, and many are or have been authoritative introductory textbooks on a subject for some years. The books are written in scientific style, but are intended to be readable by the non-specialist, and are an early example of

popular science ''Popular Science'' (also known as ''PopSci'') is an American digital magazine carrying popular science content, which refers to articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. ''Popular Science'' has won over 58 awards, incl ...

in the media. The books of the series have had considerable influence on many students who later became professional biologists, such as

W.D. Hamilton William Donald Hamilton (1 August 1936 – 7 March 2000) was a British evolutionary biologist, recognised as one of the most significant evolutionary theorists of the 20th century. Hamilton became known for his theoretical work expounding a ...

and Mike Majerus. The latter was inspired by Ford's ''Butterflies'' and ''Moths'', and has since added two volumes of his own to the series. A parallel series known as the ''New Naturalist Monograph Library'' (and often referred to as ''The New Naturalist Special Volumes'') was also published. Its aim was to cover "in greater detail... a single species or group of species". There have been no additions to the ''Monograph Library'' since 1971. Volume 82 of the main series, ''The New Naturalists'', described the series to date, with authors' biographies and a guide to collecting the books. The original editorial board consisted of Julian Huxley, James Fisher, Dudley Stamp, John Gilmour and

Eric Hosking Eric John Hosking Order of the British Empire, OBE (2 October 1909 – 22 February 1991) was an English photographer noted for his Nature photography, bird photography. Life and career Eric Hosking OBE, Hon FRPS, was a pioneering wildlife photo ...

. Until 1985, the highly characteristic

dust jacket The dust jacket (sometimes book jacket, dust wrapper or dust cover) of a book is the detachable outer cover, usually made of paper and printed with text and illustrations. This outer cover has folded flaps that hold it to the front and back book ...

illustrations were by Rosemary and

Clifford Ellis Clifford Wilson Ellis (1907–1985) was a British printmaker, painter, designer and art teacher. Ellis is notable both for the work he did for the Recording Britain project during the Second World War and for his role in the development of art t ...

; since then they have been by

Robert Gillmor Robert Allen Fitzwilliam Gillmor MBE (6 July 1936 – 8 May 2022) was a British ornithologist, artist, illustrator, author, and editor. He was a co-founder of the Society of Wildlife Artists (SWLA) and was its secretary, chairman and presiden ...

. Being a numbered series, with a very low

print run Print circulation is the average number of copies of a publication. The number of copies of a non-periodical publication (such as a book) are usually called print run. Circulation is not always the same as copies sold, often called paid circulat ...

for some volumes, the books are highly

collectable A collectable (collectible or collector's item) is any object regarded as being of value or interest to a collector. Collectable items are not necessarily monetarily valuable or uncommon. There are numerous types of collectables and terms ...

Second-hand Used goods mean any item of personal property offered for sale not as new, including metals in any form except coins that are legal tender, but excluding books, magazines, and postage stamps. Risks Furniture, in particular bedding or upholstere ...

copies of the rarer volumes, in good condition, can command high prices. The 100th volume, ''Woodlands'' by Oliver Rackham was published in 2006. ''Woodlands'' (volume 100) was also published in 2006 as a "

leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hogs, ...

bound" edition, limited to 100 copies. In fact it was fake leather. The second "leatherbound" ''New Naturalist'' - ''Dragonflies'' by Philip Corbet and Stephen Brooks - was published in 2008. The (fake) leather edition of ''Dragonflies'' (volume 106) was initially limited to 400 copies, which was subsequently limited to 303, and finally to 250. According to the New Naturalist website only 217 were actually sold and the remaining unsold stock is being kept secure at HarperCollins's offices. HarperCollins continue to produce limited numbers of "leatherbound" editions of all volumes published since ''Dragonflies'', but only from ''Islands'' (volume 109) was real leather actually used. All recent volumes have only 50 leatherbound copies. The series won the 2007 British Book Design and Production Award for "brand or series identity", and in 2008 th
official website
was launched, with features including the latest news, a members only area with access to exclusive content and downloads, and a forum. In around 1990, Bloomsbury produced a series of facsimile editions, as hardbacks with new dustjacket designs, and with all plates in black and white, including those which were originally in colour.

Main series

Monographs

Notes and references

{{Reflist

External links

Official website for the series
Conservation in the United Kingdom Natural history books Series of non-fiction books Lists of books by imprint or publisher

Main series

Monographs

See also

Notes and references

External links