Complete article: seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/artsentertainment/2002094736_giftbook21.html
Sunday, November 21, 2004 - Page updated at
12:00 A.M.
Books
Indulge readers on your list with
books they will treasure
By Mary Ann
Gwinn
Seattle Times book editor
This the second of six stories devoted to gifts: books, CDs, videos and DVDs.
Look for future installments in this spot on Sundays through Dec. 19.
A new collection of Sherlock Holmes, a paean to snowflakes, the story of the
bicycle — there's something in this list of gift books for every eccentric on
your holiday list. The following list includes top picks in the areas of
history, the natural world, literature, humor, religion and the
small-is-beautiful "stocking stuffer" category.
THE NATURAL WORLD
"The Rarest of the Rare: Stories Behind the Treasures
at the Harvard Museum of Natural History," text by Nancy Pick, photographs by
Mark Sloan, introduction by Edwar O. Wilson (HarperResource, 178
pp., $22.95). Okay, maybe it does have a dead bird on its cover (the sole
surviving specimen of the Lewis & Clark expedition — a black, or Lewis,
woodpecker), but this is a fascinating look at some of the specimens in
Harvard's natural history museum, including butterflies collected by writer
Vladimir Nabokov and a painting of a ruffed grouse mysteriously backdated by
John James Audubon.