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| Shopify Unique ID: | 10562216853796 |
| SKU: | A5/2606/U337 |
| Trademe Reference: | PR1455 (28) |
| Category: |
Fishing |
| New / Used: | Used |
Description
OLD FOURLEGS: The Story of the Coelacanth
by J.L.B. Smith
DESCRIPTION
Format: small cloth board hardcover
Published: Longmans Green 1957, 1st edition
Size (mm): 145 w x 220 h x 25 d
Pages: 260
SKU: A5/2606/U337
ABOUT
A landmark book detailing the sensational 1938 discovery of a living coelacanth.
The book captures the moment Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer found a strange blue fish on a trawler, which Smith identified as a coelacanth—a creature believed to have died out 66 million years ago. It details Smith's exhausting search across the western Indian Ocean, distributing thousands of reward leaflets to track down where the fish actually lived.
The story concludes with the frantic acquisition of a second specimen in the Comoros, a mission that required convincing the South African Prime Minister to authorize a military aircraft before the fish decayed.
Illustrated with monochrome images and fine line drawings.
CONDITION
Excellent with wear on covers and pages edges, faint marks on end papers, pages clean, binding tight.
IMAGES
No dust jacket—first image for illustrative purposes only. All others are of the actual item and depict all need to know detail.
REMARKS
Scarce locally.
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