Nora,
Before I start on a booklist tell us a little more like where are you
located and are there any particular families you are interested in
collecting.  There are dozens of books out there but what will work best
depends on where you are collecting and what families you are esp.
interested in.  The books are almost as much fun as the shells.  To keep the
cost of aquiring what you need to a minimum I suggest exploring the web site
www.bibliofind.com , a website for used books.
 
Beth
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-----Original Message-----
From: NORA BRYAN <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Friday, January 29, 1999 2:43 PM
Subject: Re: [CONCH-L] Known species
 
 
>I guess I started all this by stating my collecting goals.  Talk about
strange,
>though - even though I know that there are huge numbers of families that
aren't
>seashells and many that don't even have shalls, I was thinking of
seashells, and I
>was using that same Eisenberg book that Tom started with to figure out
which
>families I need to collect.  Is that a coincidence or wha?!  Speaking of
that
>Eisenberg book, I have never seen it as a recommended book, and I don't
know if it
>can even be purchased anymore.  I guess if you've been shelling awhile and
have many
>other books then this book might not have appeal.  I literally got started
in the
>hobby by being given a large box of stuff amongst which were about a
hundred or so
>shells, all unlabelled and no idea of their provenance.  Our library had
only one
>book that would give me even a shot at guessing what these shells were, and
where
>they were from and that was the Eisenberg book.  I keep signing it out of
the
>library.
>Does anyone know if this book can still be purchased and what it might
cost?
>The only other books I have are a 1955 copy of Abbott's American Seashells
which I
>am slowly marking up to update some of the taxonomy, and the Audubon North
American
>Seashells.  I suppose the Abbott Compendium is the obvious next choice on
my list.
>Any other recommendations?
>
>