Innes First Edition...signed

[Innesfan]

Since the subject of 'old books' attracted some interest on another thread, I thought I'd share some photos of a prized possession--a First Edition of Innes's Exotic Aquarium Fishes, 1935, signed by the author. He inscribed the book to Louis Mowbray, former director of the Bermuda Aquarium and later holding the same position at Boston Aquarium and New York Aquarium. He has a wikipedia page. The edition is exceptional for several reasons including a supplement that was belatedly added a day before the galleys went to the binder. Said supplement documented the very first successful spawning of Discus in 1935. I purchased this for $30 many years ago. One of the smartest things I did when I was young.

 

[GaryE]

A signed copy of the fishkeepers' bible. That's very cool to see.

 

[Innesfan]

A signed copy of the fishkeepers' bible. That's very cool to see.

Funny you should say that. My Danish uncle who gifted me my first copy--the 19th edition, 1956--when I was 7, referred to it as the 'Aquarium Bible.' I see from wikipedia and elsewhere, he wasn't the only one. That term was really in common usage. And well-deserved.

 

[elephantnose3334]

Funny you should say that. My Danish uncle who gifted me my first copy--the 19th edition, 1956--when I was 7, referred to it as the 'Aquarium Bible.' I see from wikipedia and elsewhere, he wasn't the only one. That term was really in common usage. And well-deserved.

Are there any nice illustrations on the book?

 

[Innesfan]

Are there any nice illustrations on the book?

From the wikipedia entry on Innes. The paragraph about the book:

"Beautifully produced with many lavish elements by his own printing firm, and written in a simple but elegant and compelling style by Innes alone, the book also included photographs taken by Innes for each of the fish species. He had decided that the Kodachrome film of the day required too much light and did not accurately show the true colors of various fishes. Instead, he shot black-and-white photographs that were hand-painted, test-printed, and then repainted to fine-tune the color for publication."

These hand-colored photographs became iconic in many cases. The book also featured b&w photography and a few oil or watercolor illustrations, see N. unifasciatus below. Also, for the first time for an aquarium book, every species had its own page(s) and photo/illustration.

 

[Back in the fold]

Oh Man are you the keeper of a true treasure or what ! ? ! ? I would get dizzy just looking at that . Many things can be said about Dr. Innes’ book , many glowing accolades heaped upon it and it is a book unlike anything else ever printed about exotic aquarium fishes . It was the first really good book of its kind and Dr. Innes’ writing style and his descriptions and his way with words has never been duplicated . I grew into the hobby in grade school with this book and read it and reread it so much I practically had it memorized . I learned correct Latin pronunciation and something of geography from it . Every aquarist should have a copy of this book if for no other reasons but historical interest . YES ! It’s that good .

 

[Innesfan]

Boy did we have a similar experience in this regard. I too learned Latin pronunciation and geography from this book, AND I learned what good writing was.

I also have a complete run of the magazine '32-'67 and for the year after the 1st edition of the book was published, the magazine reprinted reviews of the book from newspapers and magazines across the country. What was remarkable was that the book was seriously and glowingly reviewed by just about every major newspaper and magazine in the country--the NY Times, Philadelphia Enquirer, LA Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Miami Herald etc, etc. In almost every case the reviewers raved about the quality of the writing, the artful illustrations, and the opulence of the volume. No aquarium book before or since was taken that seriously by the book world.

 

[Back in the fold]

I never have seen any copies of The Aquarium but the American Killifish Association reprinted an article in their April - June 2020 JAKA . It was about the Blue Gularis from the August 1932 Volume 1 , Number 4 issue of The Aquarium Magazine and written by Allen S. Moody . Dr. Innes had some very good writers contribute to his magazine .

 

[GaryE]

I alas, only have copies of the Axelrod era books. Even they are excellent.

Everything Axelrod touched turned to gold, in his pocket. He once said one road to wealth was finding sincere people who wanted to make knowledge available for the sake of knowledge, underpaying them and selling their work at a high profit. He especially like European scientists, who had a tradition of making their work available to anyone for the sake of sharing ideas. He said he convinced them they'd help motivated hobbyists by donating their work, then he sold it at a hefty profit.

I hope Dr Innes was able to get paid well for that wonderful book.

 

[Innesfan]

Everything Axelrod touched turned to gold, in his pocket. He once said one road to wealth was finding sincere people who wanted to make knowledge available for the sake of knowledge, underpaying them and selling their work at a high profit. He especially like European scientists, who had a tradition of making their work available to anyone for the sake of sharing ideas. He said he convinced them they'd help motivated hobbyists by donating their work, then he sold it at a hefty profit.

He was a scoundrel. And as the late great true gentleman, Rosario LaCorte, said of him, "He hurt a lot of people."

From wikipedia:

"Axelrod was indicted in federal court in New Jersey on April 13, 2004, accused of funneling millions of dollars into Swiss bank accounts over 20 years without paying taxes. The following April 21, he failed to appear for his arraignment, having fled to Cuba. He was arrested in Berlin on June 15, 2004 as he got off a plane from Switzerland,[12] and then extradited to the United States. On March 21, 2005 he was sentenced in U.S. court to 18 months in prison for tax fraud."

 

[GaryE]

Axelrod was a model for the self publicizing, loud, "brand person". He would have done extremely well nowadays.

I was a big admirer of him when I was a kid, because of the books, and the self publicity. I discovered the modest, easy to respect Innes though Axelrod's publishing. In his self serving way, Axelrod both harmed and helped the hobby in the US and Canada. TFH was an important force, in every magazine store, smoke shop and library in that long gone world, and Axelrod exploited some wonderful writers.

He certainly knew how to make the money he avoided paying taxes on.