3 Inspirational (but out-of-print) Illustrated Nature Books

Sometimes, you find gems in old libraries. In this case, I found out-of-print but gorgeous illustrated nature books.

We’ve been at Scott’s parents place for a little while recently, Adelaide being where we intended to start our journey up through the middle of Australia and then back down the west. When lockdown hit in SA a while ago now, we went back, and have only just headed back out. In the meanwhile, it had been a lovely few weeks/months getting through some pending work, but then sketching and painting and writing a little more than I normally would on the road.

In this time, I'd also discovered (and been shown the contents of) a really cool home library, with some real gems.

There are some books you really do need (or could use) the latest editions of, like for example nature guides like the Australian Bird Guide or the Complete Guide to Australian Reptiles (both of which are recent purchases).

Then, there are others – art books, illustrative books, books that aren’t necessarily about imparting up-to-date identification help or scientific information, but are more intended as general information resources with a bit of inspiration thrown in. These books, are more or less timeless (or at least have a lot more longevity). It is these books I am writing about today.

One of the many wonderful paintings by Peter Trusler.

So, here are the three gorgeous books with very different illustrations in Scott’s parents collection that are definitely worth checking out if you see them somewhere in someone's library or your local library or secondhand bookshop.

1. Australia's Amazing Birds and Animals

The first is Australia’s Amazing Birds and Animals, part of the Young Australia Series. Written by David Harris, and illustrated by Walter Cunningham. The book was first published in 1984, and this is the 1987 reprint.

This is definitely a book aimed at children, and I'd have loved it as a child too.

For me, for now, my interest in the book is Walter Cunningham's lovely loose but controlled style. Studying the choices made by Walter Cunningham has been really interesting. Specifically, how he outlines his subjects subtly and where he chooses not to; his use of broader brushstrokes that still somehow do an amazing job at capturing the texture of the fur of the Kangaroos or the feathers of birds, the hints of grass.

For a book with barely 30 pages, there is a lot to love, look at and study.

2. Birds of Australian Gardens

The second book is Birds of Australian Gardens, with gorgeous paintings by Peter Trusler, written by Tess Kloot and Ellen M. McCulloch. This book was first published in 1980, and the book shown here is the 1990 reprint.

The paintings in this book are so detailed, so realistic in a way that only paintings can be. Photographs can capture the subject well, but there’s something about realistic paintings done so well, that it really shows you what the plant or bird or scene would actually look like and feel like to you – not just what the camera can capture or the photographer has chosen to capture.

Does anyone else feel like that about realistic paintings? That they are sometimes better and more realistic than photographs? Peter Trusler, thanks to this book has become a painting inspiration and an artist I admire.

3. The Atlas of World Wildlife

Book three, but possibly my favourite of the three, is more global – The Atlas of World Wildlife by Mitchell Beazley. First printed in 1973, and this is the 1980 reprint.

This book in particular reminds me of the atlases and encyclopaedia I loved thumbing through as a child. The big books my parents had that I loved looking at the photos and illustrations of even if I wouldn’t understand the words for a few more years.

A lot of different illustrators and photographers contributed to this book, making it quite a compilation. The page below is just a snippet of the amount of information in this book. I can imagine myself poring over this as a child and a teen.

The highlights of the book for me though are the full, double-page spreads at the start of each region. These have so much to look at, and helpfully, on the next page there is always a guide as to what each creature in the image before is.

I could literally stare at these for hours.

The one below is my favourite. Something about the composition of woodlands into the icy tundra is really captivating.

These are just three of the seven full spreads. In all, they cover: Africa, Europe, North America, Central and South America (shown above), Northern Asia (shown above), Southeast Asia (also shown above) and Australia and New Zealand.

There are also smaller features on Island habitats (including gorgeous seabirds) and Antarctica. These spreads are more similar to the first double-page spread of this book shown above.

What are some of your favourites?

I'm sure we've all got the children’s picture books, the nature books with gorgeous illustrations, the travel and landscape coffee-table books, the illustrated encyclopaedia we remember from our own childhoods. The books that you could just pick up and read (or more often, admire the photographs or illustrations) over and over, whether they were at your home, a friend's or family members, or your school or local library.

The ones I'm thinking of from my childhood are also undoubtedly out-of-print. I'm not even sure if we still have them all, but that's almost besides the point. It is the memories that these books bring back for me that are part of the joy of them, and I can still vividly remember some of the photographs and illustrations in the ones I loved.

Are there any books like these in your libraries just waiting to be discovered by new eyes (or rediscovered or re-loved)? What are they? I’d love to know :D