Picture 1 of 2
Who Killed the Great Auk by Jeremy Gaskell / Very Good
Condition:
“This book is in very good condition. It is exceptionally clean, has a solid binding and is free of ”... Read moreabout condition
Shipping:
Located in: Bethel, Maine, United States
Delivery:
Estimated between Fri, Jun 28 and Tue, Jul 2 to 43230
Returns:
Payments:
Shop with confidence
Seller assumes all responsibility for this listing.
eBay item number:203324056477
Item specifics
- Condition
- Very Good
- Seller Notes
- Book Title
- Who Killed the Great Auk?
- Narrative Type
- Nonfiction
- Country/Region of Manufacture
- United States
- Topic
- Life Sciences / Zoology / Ornithology, Birdwatching Guides
- Features
- Dust Jacket
- Modified Item
- No
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press, Incorporated
- Genre
- Nature, Science
- Pages
- 227
- Age Level
- Adults
- Special Attributes
- Dust Jacket
- ISBN
- 9780198564782
- Item Length
- 9.6 in
- Publication Year
- 2001
- Format
- Hardcover
- Language
- English
- Illustrator
- Yes
- Item Height
- 0.7 in
- Item Weight
- 18.3 Oz
- Item Width
- 6.4 in
- Number of Pages
- 240 Pages
About this product
Product Identifiers
Publisher
Oxford University Press, Incorporated
ISBN-10
0198564783
ISBN-13
9780198564782
eBay Product ID (ePID)
1831836
Product Key Features
Book Title
Who Killed the Great Auk?
Number of Pages
240 Pages
Language
English
Topic
Life Sciences / Zoology / Ornithology, Birdwatching Guides
Publication Year
2001
Illustrator
Yes
Genre
Nature, Science
Format
Hardcover
Dimensions
Item Height
0.7 in
Item Weight
18.3 Oz
Item Length
9.6 in
Item Width
6.4 in
Additional Product Features
Intended Audience
Trade
LCCN
00-044623
Dewey Edition
21
Reviews
'"This little book is a fitting memorial to the lost penguin of the northern seas. It's a labour of love."'Evening Standard, Monday 27th November 2000, '"This little book is a fitting memorial to the lost penguin of thenorthern seas. It's a labour of love."'Evening Standard, "Gaskell combines natural history, exploration, and social history into a single gripping tale. He describes the social conditions that led to the Great Auk's demise but also tells why so little is known of the bird despite its fmiliatriy to naturalists." --Library Journal
Dewey Decimal
333.95/833
Table Of Content
Introduction - Who killed the Great Auk?1. This rare and noble bird2. Geirfuglasker: The Icelandic bird skerries3. Travels with Audubon in Labrador4. Westward ho!5. A visit to Funk Island6. Books of authority7. Wild foulis biggand - The Great Auk on St. Kilda8. The New-Found-Land9. Uncouth regions10. Mercenary and cruel11. The old wisdom of the Faeroe Islands12. In search of the Great Auk13. Last appearances14. Generation after generation15. Bird protection: A pressing need16. An Act of ParliamentEpilogueAppendices: Description of the Great Auk based on a specimen acquired by Audubon in London; Discussion of Great Auk nomenclature; Abridged version of the Act for the Preservation of Sea Birds, 1869; The Victorian egg collectors.
Synopsis
The Great Auk is one of the world's most famous extinct birds. It was undoubtedly a most curious creature: a flightless bird with tiny wings, it stood upright like a human, and sported an enormous beak. On land, the Great Auk was clumsy and awkward, but it was perfectly adapted for swift and efficient movement in the sea, where it spent the large part of the year. In its heyday, it populated the North Atlantic, from Western Europe across to North America, and was a familiar sight to islanders and coastal dwellers when, each May, it would climb ashore for the short breeding season. Yet by the mid-nineteenth century sightings of the bird were but rare occurrences, and just a few decades later even the most assiduous Victorian explorers could not find it. So what happened to the Great Auk? What - or who - caused it to disappear from the northern oceans? Jeremy A. Gaskell draws on eyewitness accounts spanning some four centuries to relate the tale of the Great Auk's extinction. He tells how the Great Auk was hunted by sailors, coastal dwellers, and merchants for its ample flesh, its eggs, and its soft down. He shows how the fate of the Great Auk was inextricably bound up with the prevailing social, economic, and political conditions of the late 18th century. It was also a result of widespread scientific misapprehensions about the nature and geographical range of this mysterious seabird. The disappearance of the Great Auk had a considerable impact on the public imagination of the late 19th Century. Specimens of the birds or their eggs soon began to fetch astronomical prices among collectors. Charles Kingsley used the last Great Auk as a character in The Water Babies. It became the stuff of legend. More importantly, its plight keenly interested a number of great Victorian ornithologists, men like John Wolley, Alfred Newton, and John James Audubon. Later, these self-same men were to cause some of the very first legislation on seabird protection to come into place. As a result this is also the story of the beginnings of bird conservation. This intriguing book takes the reader on a tour of some of the wildest and coldest places on earth, in its attempt to uncover the history of the last days of the Great Auk. We travel with Audubon to Labrador, sail to the remote Scottish island of St Kilda, experience the hardship of life in the colonies of Newfoundland, and follow the peregrinations of intrepid naturalists as they put to sea in search of the very last of the Great Auks. The text is enhanced by numerous maps, photographs, and line drawings, and includes a fine original colour frontispiece by Jan Wilczur., Part scientific mystery, part cultural history, part intellectual archaeology, Who Killed the Great Auk? vividly tells the story of the extinction that helped launch the first conservation movement. The Great Auk was a large, flightless bird with tiny wings and an enormous beak. Its clumsy, erect gait on land made it an easy target for sailors and landsmen alike, who hunted it for its ample flesh and soft down, and eagerly gathered its eggs. Over time, the Great Auk began to appear less frequently; then rarely; then never again. By the end of the nineteenth century, even the most intrepid explorers could no longer find this once-common bird. Gaskell shows how the Great Auk's disappearance became a cause celebre. It sparked a frenzy among collectors, fascinated writers such as Charles Kingsley, and obsessed such influential ornithologists as John Wolley and John James Audubon, who helped push for the first legislation to protect seabirds. But as Gaskell shows, the extinction of the Great Auk was not a straightforward tale of overhunting. In this subtle, nuanced book, he reveals the ways in which its fate was inextricably bound up with the social, economic, and political history of the time. Who Killed the Great Auk? is nature writing at its best. From the journey of Audubon to Labrador to the hardships of life in early Newfoundland, it takes readers on a tour of some of the wildest and coldest places on earth. And at the end of the story, we understand a little more clearly how we came to value even the oddest inhabitants of the natural world., The Great Auk is one of the world's most famous extinct birds. This curious seabird was flightless, stood upright like a human, and sported an enormous beak. In this fascinating book, Jeremy A. Gaskell takes the reader on a tour of some of the wildest and coldest places on earth as he tries to uncover the facts behind its disappearance. Eyewitness accounts of the Great Auk spanning four centuries tell how it was hunted by sailors, coastal dwellers, and merchants for its ample flesh, its eggs, and its soft down. Gaskell shows how its fate was inextricably bound up with the prevailing social, economic, and political conditions of the late 18th century, and was also a result of widespread scientific misapprehensions. Many of the leading natural historians of the day took an active interest in the Great Auk and its disappearance, and the predicament of the Great Auk was partly responsible for the institution of the first seabird protection laws. Sadly, attempts to save it were in vain. This book tells why.
LC Classification Number
QL696.C42G34 2000
ebay_catalog_id
4
Copyright Date
2000
Item description from the seller
Seller assumes all responsibility for this listing.
eBay item number:203324056477
Shipping and handling
Item location:
Bethel, Maine, United States
Ships to:
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan Republic, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde Islands, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon Republic, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Croatia, Republic of the Congo, Romania, Rwanda, Saint Kitts-Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Turks and Caicos Islands, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vatican City State, Vietnam, Wallis and Futuna, Western Samoa, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Excludes:
Barbados, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Guadeloupe, Libya, Martinique, New Caledonia, Reunion, Russian Federation, Ukraine, Venezuela
| Shipping and handling | To | Service | Delivery*See Delivery notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free shipping | United States | Economy Shipping (USPS Media MailTM) | Estimated between Fri, Jun 28 and Tue, Jul 2 to 43230 |
| Handling time |
|---|
| Will usually ship within 2 business days of receiving cleared payment. |
| Taxes |
|---|
| Taxes may be applicable at checkout. Learn moreLearn more about paying tax on eBay purchases |
Sales tax for an item #203324056477
Sales tax for an item #203324056477
Seller collects sales tax for items shipped to the following provinces:
| Province | Sales Tax Rate |
|---|
Return policy
| Return policy details |
|---|
| The seller will not accept returns for this item. |
Payment details
Payment methods
Seller feedback (749)
b***n (15)- Feedback left by buyer.
Past month
Verified purchase
Fast delivery and the item was very well and sturdily packaged (necessary since our postal carrier likes to crumple packages 3 sizes smaller than they should be to cram them into our cluster boxes). The item was exactly as described and arrived in time to give to my dad for Father's Day. Thanks!
5***r (1536)- Feedback left by buyer.
Past 6 months
Verified purchase
Item arrived quickly in good condition. I received a delivery notice on Friday but it didn’t arrive. The seller looked into it and got back to me right away and it arrived the next day. I’m very pleased with his service. I would gladly buy from him again.
n***2 (1144)- Feedback left by buyer.
Past 6 months
Verified purchase
Great item, well-packed, and supersonic delivery! A+ seller! Thank you for your time and service! :-D
Product ratings and reviews
More to explore:
- Who Was Books,
- To Kill a Mockingbird First Edition Antiquarian & Collectible Books,
- Doctor Who Magazines,
- Doctor Who Audiobooks,
- Doctor Who CD Audiobooks,
- Doctor Who Fiction Doctors Fiction & Nonfiction Books,
- Doctor Who Big Finish Productions Audiobooks,
- Doctor Who Fiction Fiction & Books with Vintage,
- Great Books of the Western World Antiquarian & Collectible Books,
- Antiquarian & Collectible Books Frederick the Great