Timbers of the New World

by Samuel J. Record

ABOUT THIS BOOK -- A detailed & well-organized book on North and South American timbers with a particular emphasis on tropical woods. Extensive bibliographic information, 53 small b&w illustrations, 8 maps. HISTORY OF THIS BOOK -- First published as Timbers of Tropical America in 1924. In 1943, Yale released Timbers of the New World which more than doubled the size of the original book. Since then it has remained one of the classic and most useful reference books in the field, despite the fact that Yale stopped publishing it at some point in time. BOOK DETAILS -- This is an Arno reprint in their "Use and Abuse of America's Natural Resources" Series. cloth over boards w/sewn binding; 640 pp, reprinting a 1949 printing with the original illustrations. A SUMMARY OF THIS BOOK FROM THE 1940's -- "For its size this book contains an extraordinary amount of information and it is a large book. It is concerned primarily with timbers, but includes also a great many useful facts about the trees that produce these timbers...[a book] useful to everyone who is interested in trees and forest products...." Each [biological] family is prefaced by a general account of its chief botanical features, its economic importance and distribution (including important non-American species), and a summary of its wood characters. Each genus is then described in detail, following the same general plan, with special reference to the most important species. Nearly every family and generic description includes an account of the minute anatomy of the wood...admirably informative yet concise." However, much more than a mere catalogue of flora, the authors go to great lengths to explain both the characteristics of the wood and the various uses each timber has in the manufacturing of products. "The bibliography is extensive and is conveniently arranged according to geographical regions, and the index numbers more than fifty pages."

640 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1972