David Brown Book Company

Fungi; 3v.

Seventeenth century Italian scholar and patron of the arts Cassiano dal Pazzo purchased the scientific library of Federico Cessi upon the latter's death, including some 600 watercolor drawings of fungi native to southern Umbria and the vicinity of Rome. These scientific drawings, which had been produced with the aid of a microscope given to Cessi in 1624 by its inventor, Galileo, were discovered in the library of the Institut de France in the 1980s and are here presented in this three-volume set in color plate reproductions, accompanied by text that provides information on the various species depicted. In addition to the drawings found in the library of the Institut de France, drawings of fungi from the Cassiano collection of Britain's Royal Library and Royal Botanic Gardens are also included. Editors Pegler (retired head of mycology at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, UK) and Freedberg (history of art, Columbia U., US) further present introductory essays on the scientific activities of Federico Cessi and Cassiano dal Pazzo and on the place of the reproduced drawings in the history of science and art. The final volume includes a mycological glossary, a bibliography of species authorities, a general bibliography, a general index, and an index of scientific and common names. Distributed in the US by the David Brown Book Company. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Integrating zooarchaeology; proceedings.

This volume is one of several containing the published proceedings of the 9th meeting of the International Council of Archaeozoology. A special feature of the 17 papers collected here is that they address the need to integrate the study of faunal remains with other aspects of archaeological research or fields of study. A sampling of topics includes the diet of Washington's soldiers at Valley Forge during the winter of 1777-78; the use of cattle in prehistoric Sardinia from the evidence of bronze statuettes; and the use of astragali (animal knucklebones) in various cultural practices throughout history. Editor Maltby is affiliated with Bournemouth U.'s School of Conservation Sciences. The volume (which lacks an index) is distributed in the U.S. by the David Brown Book Company. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)