The New Naturalist Library (also known as The New Naturalists) is a series of books published by Collins in the United Kingdom, on a variety of natural history topics relevant to the British Isles. The aim of the series at the start was: "To interest the general reader in the wild life of Britain by recapturing the inquiring spirit of the old naturalists."[1] An editors' preface to a 1952 monograph says: "An object of the New Naturalist series is the recognition of the many-sidedness of British natural history, and the encouragement of unusual and original developments of its forgotten or neglected facets."[2]
The first volume to appear was E.B. Ford's Butterflies in 1945. The authors of this series are usually eminent experts, often professional scientists. This gives the series authority, and many are or have been authoritative introductory textbooks on a subject for some years. The books are written in scientific style, but are intended to be readable by the non-specialist, and are an early example of popular science in the media.
The books of the series have had considerable influence on many students who later became professional biologists, such as W.D. Hamilton and Mike Majerus.[3] The latter was inspired by Ford's Butterflies and Moths,[4] and has since added two volumes of his own to the series.
A parallel series known as the New Naturalist Monograph Library (and often referred to as The New Naturalist Special Volumes) was also published. Its aim was to cover "in greater detail... a single species or group of species".[1] There have been no additions to the Monograph Library since 1971.
Volume 82 of the main series, The New Naturalists,[5] described the series to date, with authors' biographies and a guide to collecting the books.
The original editorial board consisted of Julian Huxley, James Fisher, Dudley Stamp, John Gilmour and Eric Hosking.[6] Until 1985, the highly characteristic dust jacket illustrations were by Rosemary and Clifford Ellis; since then they have been by Robert Gillmor.
Being a numbered series, with a very low print run for some volumes, the books are highly collectable. Second-hand copies of the rarer volumes, in good condition, can command high prices. The 100th volume, Woodlands by Oliver Rackham was published in 2006. Woodlands (volume 100) was also published in 2006 as a "leatherbound" edition, limited to 100 copies. In fact it was fake leather. The second "leatherbound" New Naturalist - Dragonflies by Philip Corbet and Stephen Brooks - was published in 2008. The (fake) leather edition of Dragonflies (volume 106) was initially limited to 400 copies, which was subsequently limited to 303, and finally to 250. According to the New Naturalist website only 217 were actually sold and the remaining unsold stock is being kept secure at HarperCollins's offices. HarperCollins continue to produce limited numbers of "leatherbound" editions of all volumes published since Dragonflies, but only from Islands (volume 109) was real leather actually used. All recent volumes have only 50 leatherbound copies.
The series won the 2007 British Book Design and Production Award for "brand or series identity",[7] and in 2008 the official website was launched, with features including the latest news, a members only area with access to exclusive content and downloads, and a forum.
In around 1990, Bloomsbury produced a series of facsimile editions, as hardbacks with new dustjacket designs, and with all plates in black and white, including those which were originally in colour.
| Number | Title | Author(s) | Editions | Bloomsbury Edition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Butterflies | E. B. Ford | 1945, 1946, 1957, 1977 | 1990 |
| 2 | British Game | Brian Vesey-Fitzgerald | 1946 | |
| 3 | London's Natural History | R. S. R. Fitter | 1945 | 1990 |
| 4 | Britain's Structure and Scenery | L. Dudley Stamp | 1946, 1947, 1949, 1955, 1960, 1967 | |
| 5 | Wild Flowers | John Gilmour and Max Walters | 1954, 1955, 1962, 1969, 1973 | 1990 |
| 6a | Natural History in the Highlands and Islands | F. Fraser Darling | 1947 | |
| 6b | The Highlands and Islands | F. Fraser Darling and J. M. Boyd | 1964, 1973 | 1989 |
| 7 | Mushrooms and Toadstools | John Ramsbottom | 1953 | 1989 |
| 8 | Insect Natural History | A. D. Imms | 1947, 1956, 1971 | 1990 |
| 9 | A Country Parish | A. W. Boyd | 1951 | |
| 10 | British Plant Life | W. B. Turrill | 1948, 1958, 1962 | 1989 |
| 11 | Mountains and Moorlands | W. H. Pearsall | 1950 | 1989 |
| 12 | The Sea Shore | C. M. Yonge | 1949, 1966 | 1990 |
| 13 | Snowdonia | F. J. North, B. Campbell and R. Scott | 1949 | |
| 14 | The Art of Botanical Illustration | Wilfrid Blunt | 1950 | |
| 15 | Life in Lakes and Rivers[8] | T. T. Macan and E. B. Worthington | 1951, 1968, 1974 | 1990 |
| 16 | Wild Flowers of Chalk and Limestone | J. E. Lousley | 1950, 1969 | 1989 |
| 17 | Birds and Men | Max Nicholson | 1951 | 1990 |
| 18a | A Nat. Hist. of Man in Britain | H. J. Fleure | 1951 | |
| 18b | A Natural History of Man in Britain | H. J. Fleure and Margaret Davies | 1970 | 1989 |
| 19 | Wild Orchids of Britain | V. S. Summerhayes | 1951, 1968 | |
| 20 | The British Amphibians and Reptiles | Malcolm Smith | 1951, 1954, 1964, 1969, 1972 | |
| 21 | British Mammals | L. Harrison Matthews | 1952, 1968 | 1989 |
| 22 | Climate and the British Scene | Gordon Manley | 1952 | |
| 23 | An Angler's Entomology | J. R. Harris | 1952, 1956 | 1990 |
| 24 | Flowers of the Coast | Ian Hepburn | 1952 | |
| 25 | The Sea Coast | J. A. Steers | 1953, 1954, 1962, 1969 | |
| 26 | The Weald | S. W. Wooldridge and F. Goldring | 1953 | |
| 27 | Dartmoor | L. A. Harvey and D. St Leger-Gordon | 1953, 1962 | |
| 28 | Sea-Birds | James Fisher and R. M. Lockley | 1954 | 1989 |
| 29 | The World of the Honeybee | Colin G. Butler | 1954 | |
| 30 | Moths | E.B. Ford | 1954, 1967, 1972 | |
| 31 | Man and the Land | L. Dudley Stamp | 1955, 1964, 1969 | |
| 32 | Trees, Woods and Man | H. L. Edlin | 1956, 1966, 1970 | |
| 33 | Mountain Flowers | John Raven and Max Walters | 1956 | |
| 34 | The Open Sea: The World of Plankton | Alister Hardy | 1956, 1970 | |
| 35 | The World of the Soil | Sir E. John Russell | 1957, 1959, 1963, 1967, 1971 | |
| 36 | Insect Migration | C.B. Williams | 1958, 1965 | |
| 37 | The Open Sea: Fish & Fisheries | Alister Hardy | 1959, 1964, 1970 | |
| 38 | The World of Spiders | W. S. Bristowe | 1958 | |
| 39 | The Folklore of Birds | Edward A. Armstrong | 1958 | |
| 40 | Bumblebees | John B. Free and C.G. Butler | 1959 | |
| 41 | Dragonflies | Philip S. Corbet, Cynthia Longfield and N. W. Moore | 1960 | |
| 42 | Fossils | H. H. Swinnerton | 1960 | 1989 |
| 43 | Weeds and Aliens | Sir Edward Salisbury | 1961, 1964 | |
| 44 | The Peak District | K. C. Edwards | 1962, 1974 | 1990 |
| 45 | The Common Lands of England and Wales | W. G. Hoskins and L. Dudley Stamp | 1963 | |
| 46 | The Broads | A.E. Ellis | 1965 | |
| 47 | The Snowdonia National Park | W. M. Condry | 1966, 1967 | |
| 48 | Grass and Grassland | Ian Moore | 1966 | |
| 49 | Nature Conservation in Britain | L. Dudley Stamp | 1969, 1974 | |
| 50 | Pesticides and Pollution | Kenneth Mellanby | 1967, 1970 | |
| 51 | Man and Birds | R. K. Murton | 1971 | |
| 52 | Woodland Birds | Eric Simms | 1971 | 1990 |
| 53 | The Lake District | W. H. Pearsall and W. Pennington | 1973 | 1989 |
| 54 | The Pollination of Flowers | Michael Proctor and Peter Yeo | 1973 | |
| 55 | Finches | Ian Newton | 1972 | |
| 56 | Pedigree: Words from Nature | Stephen Potter and Laurens Sargent | 1973 | |
| 57 | British Seals | H. R. Hewer | 1974 | |
| 58 | Hedges | E. Pollard, M. D. Hooper and Norman W. Moore | 1974 | |
| 59 | Ants | M. V. Brian | 1977 | |
| 60 | British Birds of Prey | Leslie H. Brown | 1976 | 1989 |
| 61 | Inheritance and Natural History | R. J. Berry | 1977 | 1990 |
| 62 | British Tits | Chris Perrins | 1979 | |
| 63 | British Thrushes | Eric Simms | 1978 | |
| 64 | The Natural History of Shetland | R. J. Berry | 1980 | |
| 65 | Waders | W. G. Hale | 1980 | |
| 66 | The Natural History of Wales | William M. Condry | 1982 | 1990 |
| 67 | Farming and Wildlife | Kenneth Mellanby | 1981 | |
| 68 | Mammals in the British Isles | L. Harrison Matthews | 1982 | |
| 69 | Reptiles and Amphibians in Britain | Deryk Frazer | 1983 | 1989 |
| 70 | The Natural History of Orkney | R. J. Berry | 1985 | |
| 71 | British Warblers | Eric Simms | 1985 | |
| 72 | Heathlands | Nigel Webb | 1986 | |
| 73 | The New Forest | Colin R. Tubbs | 1986 | |
| 74 | Ferns | Christopher N. Page | 1988 | |
| 75 | Freshwater Fishes | 1992 (HB) (PB) | ||
| 76 | The Hebrides | J. M. Boyd and I. L. Boyd | 1990 | |
| 77 | The Soil | B. Davis, N. Walker, D. F. Ball and A. Fitter | 1992 | |
| 78 | British Larks, Pipits and Wagtails | Eric Simms | 1992 | |
| 79 | Caves and Cave Life | Philip Chapman | 1993 | |
| 80 | Wild and Garden Plants | Max Walters | 1993 | |
| 81 | Ladybirds | Mike Majerus | 1994 | |
| 82 | The New Naturalists | Peter Marren | 1995 (2nd ed. 2005) | |
| 83 | The Natural History of Pollination | Michael Proctor, Peter Yeo and Andrew Lack | 1996 | |
| 84 | Ireland | David Cabot | 1999 | |
| 85 | Plant Disease | David Ingram and Noel Robertson | 1999 | |
| 86 | Lichens | Oliver Gilbert | 2000 | |
| 87 | Amphibians & Reptiles | Trevor Beebee and Richard Griffiths | 2000 | |
| 88 | Loch Lomondside | John Mitchell | 05/03/2001 (HB) (PB) | |
| 89 | The Broads | Brian Moss | 05/11/2001 (HB) (PB) | |
| 90 | Moths | Mike Majerus | 04/02/2002 (HB) (PB) | |
| 91 | Nature Conservation | Peter Marren | 07-05-2002 (HB) (PB) | |
| 92 | Lakeland | Derek Ratcliffe | 07/10/2002 (HB) (PB) | |
| 93 | British Bats | John Altringham | 03/03/2003 (HB) (PB) | |
| 94 | A Natural History of the Seashore | Peter Hayward | 05/03/2004 (HB) (PB) | |
| 95 | Northumberland | Angus Lunn | 04/10/2004 (HB) (PB) | |
| 96 | Fungi | Brian Spooner and Peter Roberts | 06/06/2005 (HB) (PB) | |
| 97 | Mosses and Liverworts | Ron Porley and Nick Hodgetts | 05/09/2005 (HB) (PB) | |
| 98 | Bumblebees | Ted Benton | 06/03/2006 (HB) (PB) | |
| 99 | Gower | Jonathan Mullard | 02/05/2006 (HB) (PB) | |
| 100 | Woodlands | Oliver Rackham | 04/09/2006 (HB) (PB) | |
| 101 | Galloway and the Borders | Derek Ratcliffe | 03/01/2007 (HB) (PB) | |
| 102 | Garden Natural History | Stefan Buczacki | 01/05/2007 (HB) (PB) | |
| 103 | The Isles of Scilly | Rosemary Parslow | 06/08/2007 (HB) (PB) | |
| 104 | A History of Ornithology | Peter Bircham | 04/10/2007 (HB) (PB) | |
| 105 | Wye Valley | George Peterken | 04/02/2008 (HB) (PB) | |
| 106 | Dragonflies | Philip Corbet and Stephen Brooks | 1 May 2008 (HB) (PB) | |
| 107 | Grouse | Adam Watson and Robert Moss | 01/09/2008 (HB) (PB) | |
| 108 | Southern England | Peter Friend | 03/11/2008 (HB) (PB) | |
| 109 | Islands | R. J. Berry | 02/02/2009 (HB) (PB) | |
| 110 | Wildfowl | David Cabot | 28/05/2009 (HB) (PB) | |
| 111 | Dartmoor | Ian Mercer | 17/09/2009 (HB) (PB) | |
| 112 | Books and Naturalists | David Elliston Allen | 04/02/2010 (HB) (PB) | |
| 113 | Bird Migration | Ian Newton | 01/04/2010 (HB) (PB) | |
| 114 | Badger | Timothy J. Roper | 27/05/2010 (HB) (PB) | |
| 115 | Climate and Weather | John Kington | 02/09/2010 (HB) (PB) | |
| 116 | Plant Pests | David V. Alford | 06/01/2011 (HB) (PB) | |
| 117 | Plant Galls | Margaret Redfern | 28/04/2011 (HB) (PB) | |
| 118 | Marches | Andrew Allott | 01/09/2011 (HB) (PB) | |
| 119 | Scotland | Peter Friend | 05/01/2012 (HB) (PB) | |
| 120 | Grasshoppers and Crickets | Ted Benton | 05/06/2012 (HB) (PB) | |
| 121 | Partridges: Countryside Barometer | G. R. Potts | 27/09/2012 (HB) (PB) | |
| 122 | Vegetation of Britain and Ireland | Michael Proctor | 14/03/2013 (HB) (PB) | |
| 123 | Terns | David Cabot and Ian Nisbet | 06/06/2013 (HB) (PB) | |
| 124 | Bird Populations | Ian Newton | 29/08/2013 (HB) (PB) | |
| 125 | Owls | Mike Toms | 02/01/2014 (HB) (PB) | |
| 126 | Brecon Beacons | Jonathan Mullard | 08/05/2014 (HB) (PB) | |
| 127 | Nature in Towns and Cities | David Goode | 09/10/2014 (HB) (PB) | |
| 128 | Lakes, Loughs and Lochs | Brian Moss | 04/06/2015 (HB) (PB) | |
| 129 | Alien Plants | Clive A. Stace and Michael J. Crawley | 22/10/2015 (HB) (PB) | |
| 130 | Yorkshire Dales | John Lee | 05/11/2015 (HB) (PB) | |
| 131 | Shallow Seas | Peter Hayward | 07/04/2016 (HB) (PB) | |
| 132 | Falcons | Richard Sale | 30/06/2016 (HB) (PB) | |
| 133 | Slugs and Snails | Robert Cameron | 15/12/2016 (HB) (PB) | |
| 134 | Early Humans | Nicholas Ashton | 18/05/2017 (HB) (PB) | |
| 135 | Farming and Birds | Ian Newton | 27/07/2017 (HB) (PB) | |
| 136 | Beetles | Richard Jones | 25/01/2018 (HB) (PB) | |
| 137 | Hedgehog | Pat Morris | 28/06/2018 (HB) (PB) | |
| 138 | The Burren | David Cabot & Roger Goodwillie | 29/11/2018 (HB) (PB) | |
| 139 | Gulls | John Coulson | 07/03/2019 (HB) (PB) | |
| 140 | Garden Birds | Mike Toms | 25/07/2019 (HB) (PB) | |
| 141 | Pembrokeshire | Jonathan Mullard | 30/04/2020 (HB) (PB) | |
| 142 | Uplands and Birds | Ian Newton | 09/07/2020 (HB) (PB) | |
| 143 | Ecology and Natural History | David M. Wilkinson | 24/06/2021 (HB) (PB) | |
| 144 | Peak District | Penny Anderson | 23/12/2021 (HB) (PB) | |
| 145 | Trees | Peter A Thomas | 28/04/2022 (HB) (PB) | |
| 146 | Solitary Bees | Ted Benton, Nick Owens | 11/05/2023 (HB) (PB) | |
| 147 | Shieldbugs | Richard Jones | 06/07/2023 (HB) (PB) | |
| 148 | Ponds, Pools and Puddles | Jeremy Biggs & Penny Williams | 28/03/2024 (HB) (PB) | |
| 149 | Stoats, Weasels, Martens and Polecats | Jenny MacPherson | 04/07/2024 (HB) |
| Number | Title | Author | Editions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| M01 | The Badger | Ernest Neal (biologist) | 1948 | |
| M02 | The Redstart | John Buxton | 1950 | |
| M03 | The Wren | Edward A. Armstrong | 1955 | |
| M04 | The Yellow Wagtail | Stuart Smith | 1950 | |
| M05 | The Greenshank | Desmond Nethersole-Thompson | 1951 | |
| M06 | The Fulmar | James Fisher | 1952 | |
| M07 | Fleas, Flukes and Cuckoos | 1952 | ||
| M08 | Ants | Derek Wragge Morley | 1953 | |
| M09 | The Herring Gull's World | Niko Tinbergen | 1953 | |
| M10 | Mumps, Measles and Mosaics | Kenneth M. Smith and Roy Markham | 1954 | |
| M11 | The Heron | Frank A. Lowe | 1954 | |
| M12 | Squirrels | Monica Shorten | 1954 | |
| M13 | The Rabbit | Harry V. Thompson and Alastair N. Worden | 1956 | |
| M14 | The Birds of the London Area | London Natural History Society | 1957 | |
| M15 | The Hawfinch | Guy Mountfort | 1957 | |
| M16 | The Salmon | J. W. Jones (naturalist) | 1959 | |
| M17 | Lords and Ladies | Cecil T. Prime | 1960 | |
| M18 | Oysters | C. M. Yonge | 1960 | |
| M19 | The House Sparrow | J. D. Summers-Smith | 1963, 1967 | |
| M20 | The Wood Pigeon | R. K. Murton | 1965 | |
| M21 | The Trout | W. E. Frost and M. E. Brown | 1967 | |
| M22 | The Mole | Kenneth Mellanby | 1971 |