Book of Monsters

by David Fairchild, Marian Hubbard Bell Fairchild

'BOOK OF MONSTERS'

BY DAVID AND MARIAN FAIRCHILD

PORTRAITS AND BIOGRAPHIES OF A FEW OF THE
INHABITANTS OF WOODLAND AND MEADOW

WASHINGTON
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY
1914

130 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1914

About the author

David Grandison Fairchild (April 7, 1869 - August 6, 1954) was an American botanist and plant explorer. Fairchild was responsible for the introduction of more than 200,000 exotic plants and varieties of established crops into the United States, including soybeans, pistachios, mangos, nectarines, dates, bamboos, and flowering cherries. Certain varieties of wheat, cotton, and rice became especially economically important.

Reviews

[Murinius · Rating 4 out of 5]

An early 20th century bug photography and fact book--the bugs had been recently killed and placed in lifelike poses, as the technology of the time didn't allow for photographing live and moving bugs in such detail. The results are good, most of them indistinguishable from the macro photography of our era. At the beginning of the book, the authors explain their methods. Later, they share their pictures and facts about the anatomies and behaviours of the insects and arachnids portrayed.

It is clear that both of the authors loved bugs and wished people to learn more about them and avoid killing them when possible, recognising their ecological significance but more so their importance to human life. Their views are more utilitarian than those of a modern invertebrate enthusiast--for example, they advocate the extinction of mosquitoes in areas where they're significant vectors of disease, as well as of insects detrimental to commercial crops--but that is to be expected from a book written in the 1910s. All in all a lovely historical document.

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m not a Bug Guy, so I can’t attest to how good it is as a bug book, but the voice of the author is a delight and full of personality. Thank you for the tangent letting me know about your home remedy for male pattern baldness that consists of bug juice - and not the summer camp kind.

The book does not manage to end without some surprise misogyny (sir. this is a book about bugs. sir.) but if we’re being frank, I expect to be jumpscared by misogyny by every book from this period, so five stars for the misogyny only being one or two sentences long and contained to the last section.