Legacy of the Cat: The Ultimate Illustrated Guide

by Gloria Stephens, Tetsu Yamazaki (Photographer)

With over 100,000 copies sold to date, Legacy of the Cat is a "must for every cat lover's library" (Cat World International). This completely revised and updated edition offers all new photographs and text, as well as detailed descriptions of new breeds. Scores of beguiling full-color photographs accompany in-depth information on the origin, classification, and temperament (always a surprise) of each of the different breeds. This comprehensive volume chronicles the fascinating evolutionary history of wild and domesticated cats worldwide, including an extensive explanation of feline genetics and the hereditary processes and combinations that determine fur color and patterns in the different breeds. Extensive advice and information on breeding and showing cats, as well as the judging criteria involved in these formal exhibitions, are also offered for interested readers. And for those just recently initiated into the world of cat fancy, the photographs and breed-by-breed descriptions are a thoroughly engaging introduction. This splendid celebration of our bewitching, bewhiskered friends will inform and regale both professionals of the cat world and cat owners alike.Tetsu Yamazaki is a photographer who lives in Tokyo. His work includes the best-selling Legacy of the Dog, also published by Chronicle Books.

Genres: Nonfiction, Animals, Cats

137 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1990

Reviews

[Eyehavenofilter · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Regal Abyssinians, Devilish American Curls, Majestic Birmans"
This includes an amazing collection of the endless breeds of domestic cats that delight cat lovers world wide.
Beautiful full color photos of the finest cats you'll ever see with detailed descriptions of their origins, classifications, breeding, genetics, and temperament.
There are profiles of the 37 breeds, in incredibly charming poses, as we all know cats are "hams" when they know their photos are being taken and these charmers are classic in their cuteness. If you love cats, you'll love this beautiful book.

[Sue Em · Rating 5 out of 5]

Glorious photos! Clear text explaining cat genetics and how color and body type align and create the different breeds. Besides the colorful charts showing specific features, each breed is trested to a several page pictorial and textual examination of its predominate features and temperaments. Fascinating and beautiful, this is a must read for all cat lovers.

[Allie Balliet · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book as a Christmas present many, many years ago. I absolutely loved reading through this book as a child, I am a huge animal lover, I grew up with cats and dogs my whole life and I especially loved cats. I remember reading this cover to cover and I loved seeing all the different types of cats, so many beautiful and interesting types of cats and all the different facts on them and their history. It’s a really cool read.

[Chloe Rudorf · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-have for every cat lover!!! This is a wonderful cat breed encyclopedia that obviously took a lot of work to make. It's easy to navigate and has wonderful pictures that accompany a detailed description of each breed. In the very beginning of the book you can take a look at four pages of all the different colors a cat can come in (eg, red spotted tabby). And there's even a whole section on cat genetics!!! A wonderful book for cat 4-Hers and cat lovers. Again, a MUST have!

[Danielle]

Legacy Of The Cat - Gloria Stephens

Genre - Non Fiction

From reading this book I learnt about different breeds of cats. One breed, the Ragdoll, was of particular interest to me. It is one of the largest breeds of cats and it is the most docile. It is also a very new breed of cat and its origins go back only a few decades where it is thought this breed of cat was ‘man made’. A breeder of Persian cats by the name of Ann Baker, bred her cat with a longhaired white cat. The offspring named "Josephine" had a unique temperament and was again used to breed. The author is trying to show us how cats have evolved through breeding. The author notes that the Ragdoll cat could not readily live in the wild. It is “Docile and loves to be carried”. This shows us just how much humans have interfered with nature and the natural evolution of the species. Some types of cats have become too domesticated and could not go back to living in their natural habitat. Humans have messed with nature for their own selfish reasons. This book makes me think about our own species. Are we like the Ragdoll? Should we be interfering with our own evolutionary processes? We are in various stages of cloning organs and even selecting our own offspring by ways of IVF. This may have bad consequences in the long term for our own species.

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this to help identify our beautiful long-haired sweetie. Turns out we think she's at least part Norwegian Forest cat.

At the beginning is their history and and extremely detailed information on their genetics: body type, eye color, etc. There's a good chart on the different fur colors

Every page has at least 2 full color photos of 37 of differnt breeds of cat, which was very helpful.

[Leonard Pierce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stephens is a professional cat breeder, so a lot of this is pretty clinical and stuffed with hardcore genetics, but it's got gorgeous photographs and really informative breed overviews.

[Lynn Rossi · Rating 5 out of 5]

beautiful