Shells: Guide to the Jewels of the Sea [Hardcover]

Giorgio Gabbi (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2000

Combining the best in underwater photography with brilliant illustrations and the most complete and informative text, this incomparable book presents a fresh guide to the world of shells.

Shells are one of the most familiar and fascinating creations of nature. Valued for their beauty since prehistoric times, they may be seen on Greek and Roman vases, Renaissance paintings, African ornaments, and modern jewelry. Mollusks, the animals without backbones that produce shells, are so widespread that, second to insects, they are the most numerous creatures on earth.

In this comprehensive, visually exciting book, the enlightening text is wonderfully illustrated with underwater images and full-color diagrams that explore the intricate construction of shells. In a special guide, 400 different specimens from around the world are described, ranging from the most numerous to the rarest and from the most gorgeous to the most exotic. Many are depicted underwater as a diver would see them living in their natural habitat. Finally, there is practical advice on how to build an outstanding shell collection that is beautiful to look at, helpful in understanding various marine environments, and respectful of nature. Unique in its coverage, this book will be invaluable to naturalists, divers, and shell collectors.

201 full-color illustrations

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Giorgio Gabbi, a scuba diver, lover of the sea, and journalist, is the author of a monthly column about collecting shells and has contributed many articles on nature and travel to leading publications.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 172 pages
• Publisher: Abbeville Press (March 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789206315
• ISBN-13: 978-0789206312
• Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 8.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,383,750 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #56 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Biological Sciences > Animals > Seashells

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lovely photos, fair figures, lacking on text, November 28, 2000

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Shells: Guide to the Jewels of the Sea (Hardcover)

This is an excellent book. I was impressed by the photos of different marine mollusks in their native habitats, often engaged in complex feeding activities (especially note Colubraria feeding on a parrot fish through it's mucus bubble). It's very nice to see, for a change, a book dedicated to the living organisms that we as Conchologists often tend to forget when engaging in this hobby. I have an extensive collection of shell books and would say to the best of my knowledge this book simply has some of the finest mollusk habitat photography of any book I've seen. I wish they included a bit more text; I felt that a little more info with those excellent photos this would have made this a classic text. Instead it is a excellent book for the amature collector looking for more than the typical identification of shells book. That maybe a mis-characterization as there was information in the text that was new to me (and I have been in this hobby for 30 years), but a lot of the text seemed 'wanting'. Well worth a look see.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This book belongs to the Victorian age., April 19, 2009

By 

Ned Middleton (British professional underwater photo-journalist & author) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Shells: Guide to the Jewels of the Sea (Hardcover)

The modern scuba diver has evolved into a contemporary creature who is aware of the underwater environment and the negative impact he is able to assert unless he is careful down there. On behalf of all serious scuba divers everywhere I wish to assert; We are not frogmen, we are not spear-fishermen, we do not wear flippers, we do not breathe Oxygen and WE DO NOT collect sea shells. This book would have you believe otherwise.

Shell collecting was practised in the 19th Century - long before the advent of underwater films and photography which allowed people to see the difference between a living creature in its shell on the seabed and a dead case in someone's collection.

Yet again, we have a low-quality product from a publishing firm who refuse to afford another so-called author any form of biography or explanation. Consequently, we simply do not know whether or not Giorgio Gabbi is a schoolboy, student, experienced scuba diver or holder of a Phd in Marine Biology. Without that knowledge, the book has no credibility whatsoever. Furthermore, there are no meaningful references and no bibliography whatsoever. My conclusion, therefore, is that little of the content may be trusted.

As mentioned in my reviews about other books from these publishers; The translations from parent Italian to English is often derisible. More alarming, however, are the sentiments on the book's back cover - where comments are placed in order to attract the browser into making that all-important purchase. Those comments also give the non-diver a false impression of what it is we are about. Worded in the present tense as though it were still happening, it reads; "Traded like coins, collected like precious stones, revered like amulets, shells are the mysterious ladies of the Ocean: Coloured and luminous, chiselled or smooth, they elicit curiosity in divers and enthuse collectors."

Like I said, out of date!

In short, this is yet another mass-produced item from White Star Publishing of Italy, who have a reputation for specialising in quantity over quality and the reader should not be fooled by some excellent photography.

NM

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars About the shells, but in a very biological way, June 28, 2006

By 

M. Glinski "glinaa" (Warsaw, Poland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shells: Guide to the Jewels of the Sea (Hardcover)

This is actually a book about the living molluscs, and not the shells themselves. Some of the best underwater photography i have ever seen to date is to be found here and in large format. The text is mostly biological and comprehensive.
The species guide, which is included in the last 50 pages is actually almost next to useless. It is incomplete, the drawings (no photos here) are not always good enough and the descriptions have mistakes.
Anyhow, if you've ever wanted to see an A3-format photo of Tridacna Gigas, two Cypraeas breeding, a Colublaria sucking on a shark or a Conus eating a live fish in a series of photographs, this is the book to buy !