A Guidebook Library: TLD's year-long randomised walkthrough of zoo guides

Day 116: Dierenpark Emmen (2001) - Logbook (English Edition)



Page count: 96 pages
Photographs: 82 colour photographs
Illustrations/diagrams: 8 drawings of animals
Layout: Brief introduction, followed by discussion of the various geozones within the collection and the species within, concluding with visitor information and a potted history of the zoo.
Map: Fold-out map within interior rear cover.

Per a recent request from @Ursus , we shall today be taking a look at a guidebook from Dierenpark Emmen, a closed collection in the Netherlands which is often spoken-of with something approaching the regret and nostalgia that is already being pre-emptively directed at Bristol Zoo here in the United Kingdom; to my marked regret, I was unable to visit Emmen before it closed and was superseded by Wildlands Emmen, and as such I seized the opportunity to pick up this guidebook when it became available (on AbeBooks, as I recall) a few years ago. At the present time, it remains the only guidebook I own from the collection; this particular edition was published in Dutch, German and English editions to the best of my knowledge, with my copy being printed in the latter language. As a result, I have been able to interpret and understand the contents of this guidebook fully, something which is often not the case where Dutch-language items are concerned.



After a very brief introduction, the guidebook opens with a general overview of the history of life on earth, from the evolution of single-celled organisms to the rise of mammals and, ultimately, prehistoric humans; as far as I have been able to gather this section is intended to tie into a natural history museum which was located within the grounds of Dierenpark Emmen, close to the entrance, and which was known as the BioChron. The quality standards and quantity-level of information presented within this section are relatively high, with a wide range of subjects covered across the half-dozen or so pages within. The text is supplemented, as is the case throughout this guidebook, by several attractive and eye-catching colour photographs depicting various of the species mentioned within the main body of the text - the only major difference here when compared to the remainder of this guidebook is that the subjects of the text and supplemental photographs include fossils and artists impressions of key prehistoric species, rather than the species and exhibits located throughout the zoological collection itself. It is here worth mentioning that the guidebook as a whole is presented - as the title would tend to indicate - in a faux-notebook style, with the text and images superimposed over a background of regular lines; this effect is heightened by the fact that between each of the geographic zones discussed within the guidebook, empty double-page spreads showing the lined-notebook background are used as dividing points, with small photographs of items such as postage stamps, feathers, shells and immigration stamps present in the margins of these segments. A note within the interior front cover of the guidebook makes the explicit suggestion that these sections should be used for the insertion of handwritten notes and thoughts about the zoo, scrapbook items from the purchaser's visit and so forth; one wonders how many people actually did so!




The main body of the guidebook comprises a series of general accounts discussing the geographic zones represented at the collection; at the time of publication, these were as follows:

• Africa
• Europe
• Asia
• Australia
• South America
• North America

These sections represent a rather good blend of general information on the geographic areas themselves, discussion about select exhibits located within the zoo, and more detailed information about the wild habitat, behaviour, diet and range of key species; these are accompanied by a large number of colour photographs and drawings depicting various of the species and exhibits cited. Although the choice of which species are discussed seems a little scattergun in parts, this is only a minor quibble; the overall quality of these accounts is extremely high, with a wide range of detailed information conveyed in an accessible and interesting fashion, and the choice of supplementary images complements the text rather well.




Beyond here, the guidebook contains a short discussion relating to the various breeding and conservation programmes which Dierenpark Emmen was involved with, along with a wider discussion of EAZA and related organisations, promotion of annual membership and the ability to book the collection as a venue for events and school visits, and various items of visitor information such as opening times and available public transport connections. However, the following section which concludes the guidebook is far more interesting; a detailed account of the history of Dierenpark Emmen, from when it opened in 1935 to the time of publication in the early 2000s; as I have made fairly obvious on numerous occasions in the past, I feel that this is precisely the sort of information which zoological guidebooks should provide, both as a long-term record and as a means of educating the zoo-visiting public about the history and development of zoological collections as a whole. Given the fact that the collection would experience significant financial difficulties a mere decade after the publication of this guidebook and would close down a handful of years later, the concluding portion of this historical account is highly illuminating, if somewhat depressing, as a record of the plans for future expansion and development which Dierenpark Emmen was working on in the early years of the current century.




The collection map located within the interior rear cover of the guidebook merits just as much praise as the main body of the text, in my opinion; not only is it highly detailed and methodically-labelled with numbers, colour-coding and silhoutte representations of key animal species, but just as importantly it is presented in a clear and aesthetically-attractive format, with the division between footpaths, exhibits and animal houses easily visible. Given the fact that this guidebook is an English-language version of a Dutch original, whilst one can reasonably assume that the signs and direction posts within the zoo itself will have been in Dutch-language only and therefore of less utility to the Anglophone visitor to the collection, this map represents a valuable resource to the aforementioned visitor. It is, of course, even more valuable as a historical record of what Dierenpark Emmen was like at the time of publication!



Overall, this is a highly-interesting and well-produced guidebook representing a zoological collection which, from all I have heard, was likely one of the foremost in western Europe at the time of publication; as such it is quite bittersweet to read knowing that within 15 years, Dierenpark Emmen would be a thing of the past. In very much the same way that I doubt anyone visiting Bristol Zoo a decade ago would have expected that the collection would be gone by the end of 2022, let alone fail to reach its bicentennial, this guidebook presents a detailed and thorough picture of a collection which seems to have been thriving - and one which I very much wish I had been able to visit.

 

The rat sewer was a famous exhibit from Emmen. (For me, it is the first thing I think of if Emmen is mentioned). It was even specifically featured in the 1980s tv series and accompanying book Zoo 2000.

 

There was also a long-standing exhibit in the nocturnal house at Bristol Zoo containing House Mouse, Brown Rat and Black Rat, located within an imitation kitchen and living room.

 

Day 117: Zoo Ostrava (2008) - Hippopotamus (English Edition)



Page count: 50 pages
Photographs: 44 colour photographs, 2 black-and-white photographs
Illustrations/diagrams: N/A
Layout: Introduction, followed by comprehensive walkthrough accounts of zoological exhibits and botanical park.
Map: Two fold-out maps within interior rear cover, showing location of zoological and botanical exhibits.

Today, we shall be taking a look at a guidebook which, since I obtained it around two years ago on AbeBooks, has grown on me rather a lot; having visited Zoo Ostrava in autumn 2019, I already had a reasonably-large amount of familiarity with the collection when I first read this guidebook, and as such I was interested to discover how it may have changed and developed over the decade preceding my visit. As I hope to demonstrate within this post, I rapidly discovered that - although the zoo itself has definitely improved and grown by a significant degree since the publication of this guidebook - the high quality of this guidebook (both in terms of production and content) shows that the collection already displayed a lot of potential.



This particular edition represents an English-language translation of the guidebook available at Zoo Ostrava in 2008; as I do not own a copy of the Polish-language original, I do not know whether or not this particular edition has been abridged from a longer version, or represents a more direct like-for-like translation. However, given the high quality and depth of the content presented here, my personal suspicion is that the latter is the case. The only major downside of the format and presentation of the guidebook, in my opinion, is the fact that (as seems to be the case for the majority of the modern-day items published by Polish collections) it has been published in a ring-bound format, which as previously discussed is unwieldy, unattractive and, I feel, renders it incredibly awkward to store and/or shelve.

The guidebook opens with a general introductory passage written by the director of the zoo Petr Čolas - who passed away just shy of two years ago, and has been widely credited as the main figure responsible for the strong reputation Zoo Ostrava has earned in recent years - discussing the changing role of zoological collections in the modern era, their responsibility to serve as foci of conservation both close-to-home and around the world, and some of the conservation and breeding programmes which Zoo Ostrava is involved with. Beyond here, a brief potted history of the collection is provided, containing discussion of the major developments and extensions to the zoo over the years, further information about conservation and breeding programmes, and the various zoological organisations such as EAZA and WAZA which Ostrava has joined in recent decades.




The main body of the guidebook comprises a pair of walkthrough accounts; one pertaining to the zoological exhibits located throughout Zoo Ostrava, and one discussing the various footpaths extending throughout the zoo as part of the (recently-opened at the time of publication) botanical park development.

The first of these is incredibly rich in detail, and provides a fairly comprehensive and exhibit-by-exhibit summary of the various exhibits which the visitor to Zoo Ostrava would encounter as they made their way around the collection; the species within each exhibit is cited both by their common name and scientific name (something which long-time readers of this thread will know is something I believe is a complete necessity for walkthrough accounts of this kind, given the variance in language and colloquial names for given species), with a wide variety of information provided relating to the diet, behaviour, breeding habits and natural range of many of the taxa in question. Moreover, the guidebook makes a specific point of discussing the enclosures and exhibits within which the species are located, citing those structures which were ear-marked for replacement and - in some cases - also discussing future plans for exhibit developments and additions. For instance, subsequent to the passage relating to the various species of bear located within the collection at the time of publication, information is provided about the intention to construct a large and densely-wooded mixed exhibit for Asian Black Bear and Grey Langur in the vicinity of the elephant house; this exhibit is one of those which has subsequently been constructed at Ostrava, and is more-or-less universally cited on this forum as one of the very best exhibits for a bear species within European collections.

It is worth mentioning here that another particularly strong point of this guidebook is the fact that the text is densely-illustrated throughout by numerous large colour photographs depicting the species and exhibits cited within the text; these complement and break up the text in an aesthetically-pleasing and attractive fashion, and are universally labelled in order to make it clear which species is being depicted.




The second major segment of the guidebook, as noted, comprises a walkthrough account pertaining to the botanical park within Zoo Ostrava; this covers a large portion of the overall footprint of the zoo, consisting of mixed forest, wetland and meadows, and represents four suggested walking routes through the zoo grounds - the "water path", the "forest path", the "shadow path" and the "animal path". The walkthrough account provides a rich amount of detail about the various species of vegetation found throughout the various suggested walking routes, making note of the different botanical ecosystems and habitats visible across the zoo, and - especially where the "animal path" is concerned, given the fact that this comprises the various botanical displays, trees and other vegetation visible as the visitor makes their way throughout the zoological collection - the particular plant species which can be seen at particular points in the routes.

As is the case for the zoological walkthrough account, each of the major plant species cited within the text is referred to both by their common name and scientific name; this is one of the features which makes this section of the guidebook so good, in my opinion, given the fact that as a general rule botanical displays at zoological collections are all-but-ignored within any guidebooks or other supplemental publications. In my opinion, although the zoological walkthrough within this guidebook *is* extremely good, these passages represent the true highlight of the guidebook as a whole; when I visited Zoo Ostrava in 2019, I was struck by how attractive the grounds of the zoo were, and how much of the overall footprint of the collection was occupied by the various areas of forest, woodland and wetland scattered throughout. As such, one could make a strong argument for the fact that this section of the guidebook gives a far better impression of the "feel" of Zoo Ostrava than a mere description of the zoological exhibits could.



The fact that Zoo Ostrava - very rightly so -seems to place as much importance on the botanical side of the collection as it does the zoological is made even clearer once one reaches the pair of fold-out maps located within the interior rear page of the guidebook; whilst one, as would be expected, comprises a map of the zoological collection with stylised illustrations of the species exhibited within the zoo located where appropriate, the other shows a map of the collection as a whole, with the four suggested botanical routes throughout the zoo clearly-labelled. Both maps are clear, aesthetically-attractive, and easy to interpret, seeming to be specifically-intended for consultation alongside the main body of the guidebook.



I definitely feel like I have not done this guidebook anywhere near the level of justice it deserves, particularly where the subject of the botanical park and related areas of the zoo are concerned; as always, I am very happy to answer any questions which may be raised, or to provide further information and images on request. For now, it suffices to say that this is a highly-interesting, well-formatted and appealingly-presented guidebook, and one which represents a key point in the overall history of the collection to which it pertains; a time when it was starting to develop and expand, and many of the developments and improvements which have since taken place were in their earliest stages of infancy. As such, anyone interested in the zoological collections of Central Europe would find this guidebook a valuable addition to their personal collection.

 

Day 118: Tierpark Hagenbeck (1955) - Onagers



Page count: 22 pages (including interior cover pages)
Photographs: 36 black-and-white photographs
Illustrations/diagrams: 4 drawings of animals within introductory segment on interior front cover.
Layout: Brief selection of trivia and feeding times, followed by a comprehensive exhibit-by-exhibit walkthrough of the collection.
Map: Located within central pages of guidebook.

A relatively brief guidebook today, but one which nonetheless contains a large amount of interesting and noteworthy content, and (in my opinion at least) represents an important primary source for those interested in zoological history - particularly when one considers the highly-significant status of Tierpark Hagenbeck in this regard. Until relatively recently, I owned surprisingly few guidebooks from this particular zoological collection considering the historical significance of Tierpark Hagenbeck on numerous levels; this is largely due to the fact that the collection published fairly brief and lightweight guidebooks (especially when compared to other German zoological collections during the mid-20th century) and therefore my priorities always lay elsewhere. However, in the last year or so an eBay seller based in Germany has been selling a private collection of zoological guidebooks and other historical documents as part of a deceased individual's estate, with numerous guidebooks from Tierpark Hagenbeck being listed throughout the first half of 2022; as such, I have taken the opportunity on a number of occasions to supplement my personal collection. This particular guidebook is one of those which has fallen into my possession thus, and is perhaps one of the most interesting overall.



The first remark that needs to be made, prior to discussion of the guidebook itself, is an observation about how attractive the cover art on this particular guidebook is; although the collection would subsequently transition to photographic covers a decade or so after the publication of this particular edition, for many years the cover artwork for those guidebooks published by Tierpark Hagenbeck represented some of the most visually-appealing and attractive of their kind, surpassed only by the artwork used by Tierpark Berlin and Zoo Berlin.

The guidebook opens with a brief introductory segment within the interior front cover, listing a number of interesting items of information pertaining to Tierpark Hagenbeck as a whole, including remarks on the historical background to the collection, the activities of Carl Hagenbeck and his father Claus Gottfried prior to the foundation of the zoo, and the fact that at the time of publication the collection was under the management of the fourth generation of the Hagenbeck family; this section also contains a list of the key animal feeding times at the zoo. Beyond here, the guidebook comprises an exhibit-by-exhibit walkthrough account of Tierpark Hagenbeck corresponding to a suggested route throughout the collection; each exhibit/enclosure account provides a variety of information about the behaviour, range, diet and other such details relating to the species within, along with various items of information about the design choices made when constructing the exhibits in question. Despite being relatively brief, the quality and quantity of information within these exhibit accounts is quite high; as one might imagine, the aspect which I find particularly interesting is the aforementioned content relating to the physical design and construction of the exhibits themselves, considering the bearing that this has on the wider history of Tierpark Hagenbeck, and the twin concepts of a "zoo without bars" and panoramic views which were pioneered at the Tierpark before becoming widespread across many zoological collections throughout the world.

Another particular highlight of this guidebook is the fact that the text is supplemented by a wide range of photographic illustration, not merely depicting the species exhibited within the various enclosures at the collection, but with many of the photographs focusing on the exhibits/enclosures themselves, wider panoramic views across multiple enclosures, and other such imagery. One would normally state here that photographic material of this kind provides a valuable insight into the design and content of the collection at the time of publication; although this *is* the case, my most recent visit to Tierpark Hagenbeck in June 2022 (and the fact that the collection is fresh in my memory) has made it disconcertingly clear how little the collection has changed in some respects. I rather suspect that some of my enclosure photographs from this year would, if rendered in black-and-white, be nearly identical to photographs contained within this guidebook!




However, perhaps the most interesting segment of the exhibit-by-exhibit walkthrough account - and one which I discussed in passing elsewhere on the forum recently, providing a reason for me to lean on the scales of random chance and bump this particular guidebook to the front of the queue for scanning - is the lengthy passage I reproduce above, relating to the capture of a herd of Persian Onager for the purposes of display and captive breeding, and the subsequent import of the herd (alongside several other species, including the last-known Caspian Tiger in captivity) to Tierpark Hagenbeck. The collection has held the species without interruption since this original import, and to the best of my knowledge all captive Persian Onager in Europe are descended from the original herd to some extent; as such, this section of the guidebook serves as a key item of primary evidence for those interested in the captive history of this species. On a minor side-note, during my aforementioned recent visit to Tierpark Hellabrunn, I observed with interest that the Onager paddock was one of the handful of enclosures throughout the zoo to be accompanied by substantial historical signage!

The central pages of the guidebook contain a highly-detailed and attractive map of the collection; the suggested route throughout the Tierpark which is presented within the main body of the text is clearly displayed on the map, with each exhibit/enclosure discussed indicated through use of methodical numbering corresponding both to the numbers used within the text, and to a key located underneath the map itself. Another key provides information relating to various visitor amenities and facilities, and (very interestingly, if somewhat out-of-place) the total weight of food eaten by the animals within the zoo on a yearly basis. Moreover, the map is well-presented and aesthetically-appealing in its own right, showing the location, size and position of the major zoological exhibits, areas of vegetation and lawns, and the footpaths throughout the collection in a clear and easy-to-interpret fashion.



Overall, although relatively brief considering the major status of the zoological collection in question and the tendency for German zoo guidebooks published at this time to be somewhat weightier volumes, this is a highly-interesting and informative guidebook; not only is it well-presented and designed from the point of view of a visitor to the collection, with the combination of a detailed map and an enclosure-by-enclosure walkthrough account allowing it to be used as a true guide to the collection *during* a visit at the time of publication, but it also represents an important primary source for those interested in zoological history in the present day.

As always, I welcome any feedback, questions or further remarks!

 

The posture of those cartoon visitors, in a German guidebook ... it reminds me of something. Let's say Basil Fawlty.

 

Day 119: Knuthenborg Safaripark (1971) - Giraffes (English Edition)




Page count: 22 pages (including interior cover pages) - two pages missing from my copy.
Photographs: c.28 colour photographs
Illustrations/diagrams: c.10 images
Layout: Discussion of historical background to collection, followed by general overview of the species collection and features visible within the safari park.
Map: Located within central pages of guidebook.

Today, we take a look at a fairly short but very interesting guidebook for a collection which (beyond the information I have gleaned from the guidebook itself) I know little-to-nothing about, Knuthenborg Safaripark in southeast Denmark; frustratingly, whilst reading through the guidebook and selecting pages for scanning, I have realised that at some point in the past my copy has been defaced and a page has been neatly torn out. As such, the following discussion carries the caveat that it may well omit significant or notable information located on the two sides of the page affected - similarly, there are likely to be further photographs or illustrations omitted from my above count.



As will be thoroughly-established by this point, I have a strong soft spot for guidebooks which contain large quantities of information about the history and development of the zoological collection to which they pertain; this particular guidebook is rather strong in this regard, with introductory passages discussing the history of the Knuthenborg estate, the Knuth family who have lived there for over 300 years, and the modern-day Knuthenborg Park comprising more than a quarter of the total length. These passages provide a large amount of detailed information, presented in a simple but appealing fashion, and supplemented (as is the case for the entirety of the guidebook) by a large number of attractive colour photographs, not only showing various of the species located within the safari park itself, but also several of the noteworthy structures within the wider estate.




One interesting point that should be made here is that, although the Knuth family had owned the estate for several generations at the time this guidebook was published, the safari park itself was a relatively new development; the author of this guidebook, Adam Wilhelm Knuth, had inherited the estate from his late father only a year or two previously, and had opened the safari park shortly beforehand. As such, this guidebook represents an interesting look at the very earliest days of the zoological collection in question. Unfortunately, as noted, my copy is missing a handful of pages - given the fact that the guidebook does not contain a contents page or index, I am unable to discern what information these may have included, with a resulting reduction in the overall value of my copy as a primary historical source.

However, those pages which have survived include a wide range of interesting and informative content, including a summary of the most noteworthy species located within the safari park alongside various items of information relating to these, discussion of the domestic livestock present within the collection, safety information for those driving through the main body of the park, and further discussion about physical geographic features of the wider Knuthenborg estate. As noted previously, these accounts are accompanied by a wide range of attractive colour photographs showing the species within the safari park alongside various images showing visitors interacting with the animals, general views of the park and estate, and images of the main manor house and other structures.



The central pages of the guidebook contain a colourful and attractive map of the collection; curiously, although the main body of this edition of the guidebook has been translated into English from the Danish-language original, the map itself remains entirely untranslated. However, due to the use of colourful drawings showing key structures and the species located within particular areas of the safari park, the relatively-high level of similarity between Danish and English, and a clear and easy-to-interpret layout and design, the map remains entirely well-suited to the intended purpose nonetheless. As I will have made obvious on several occasions in the past, I particularly appreciate zoological maps which provide a high level of aesthetic and artistic merit alongside informative content; I think this particular map more than qualifies in this regard.



Overall, this is a short but rather interesting guidebook which - to my distinct pleasure - I have found myself learning a surprisingly large amount from; my only real criticism - the missing content, and the fact I have no idea *what* precisely is missing - is naturally limited to my personal copy rather than this edition of the guidebook overall! As usual I would be more than happy to answer any questions or receive any general feedback or remarks - but in this case I would *particularly* like to hear if anyone reading this thread knows more about Knuthenborg Safaripark which could be shared here.... or indeed if anyone has visited!

 

Day 120: Taronga Zoo (1919) - Wild Animals Of The World, Being A Popular Guide To Taronga Zoological Park




Page count: 136 pages
Photographs: 6 black-and-white photographs
Illustrations/diagrams: c.130 drawings of various plants, animals and people
Layout: General introduction, followed by discussion of plants naturally occurring within the zoo grounds and surrounding area, concluding with a general overview of animal species worldwide.
Map: Located towards start of guidebook, divided into multiple segments.

An interesting oddity today; to the best of my knowledge, this is the first guidebook published by Taronga Zoo after it first opened in late 1916, and seems to attract fairly high prices on the secondary marketplace. As such, I was rather fortunate to stumble across this copy being sold on AbeBooks several years ago for only £25 plus postage - as the second-hand bookseller who had listed it was based in the United Kingdom, the latter didn't set me back much at all. I shall cut to the chase and immediately state that although this guidebook contains much of note, and represents an important historical document in a number of ways, as an actual guide to the zoological collection to which it pertains it is not terribly good at all - so perhaps I was more fortunate than I initially realised when I managed to track down such a relatively cheap copy! Either way, in the post that follows I hope to convey the positive aspects of the guidebook, and what little information is actually provided about the zoo itself, whilst also making it clear just how little that actually is.



The guidebook opens with a general introduction to the peninsula jutting out into Sydney Harbour on which Taronga Zoo was constructed, describing the native fauna and flora which was found there prior to European colonisation, and going into some detail about the evidence of native settlements in the region; these accounts represent the first occurrences - but unfortunately nowhere near the last - of a distinct through-line of casual racism and xenophobia which occurs throughout the guidebook, with references to a "simple folk" of "savages" whose displacement had "provided Sydney with a pleasure ground such as few cities possess".

These introductory passages continue with a brief - if somewhat florid and historically inaccurate - overview of the history of zoological collections, before observing that due to the brief lifespan of any animal species liable to be displayed in captivity, any walkthrough account of the exhibits and species within the zoo would be futile. Given the rich depth of detail which we have already seen within guidebooks from London, Berlin, Wroclaw and other collections dating to this timespan or earlier, and the fact that many of the species and exhibits discussed within survived for prolonged periods, these claims can be safely dismissed. Either way, the introduction concludes with a statement that the main body of the text would instead comprise a general summary of selected animal species throughout the world, some of which may (or may not) be contained within the zoo at any given time.

Prior to this discussion of worldwide animal diversity, however, the guidebook contains a pair of shorter segments which (to be brutally honest) comprise the majority of the content which relates directly to Taronga Zoo itself; firstly, a map of the collection, of which more anon; and secondly several pages discussing the variety of trees, wild flowers, shrubs and other vegetation found throughout the zoological gardens at the time of publication. This section of the guidebook provides a fairly wide amount of information about the diversity of plant life found within the zoo and the surrounding area, making note of those species which were native and had been present prior to European colonisation, those which had been re-introduced to the area, and non-native species from around the world. These accounts, providing as they do some small insight into the general "feel" and appearance of Taronga Zoo in the early years after it first opened, are perhaps some of the most interesting segments of the guidebook as a whole - certainly from the point of view of someone with an interest in the history of the collection to which it pertains.




The main body of the guidebook, as noted, comprises a general overview of the wide variety of animals found throughout the world; these accounts can be more-or-less divided into two major categories, those pertaining to Australian species and those pertaining to species found elsewhere worldwide. The former category goes rather more in-depth than the latter, covering Australian mammals, reptiles and birds in distinct sections, whilst only mammalian species are mentioned where other regions of the world are concerned. As can be seen in the selected images above and below, the guidebook is fairly-densely illustrated with a wide variety of drawings depicting some of the species discussed within the text; although often rather attractive on an artistic and aesthetic level, it must be said that these are often rather poor representations of the species themselves! For instance:

• The Wallaroo illustration which occurs both within this segment of the guidebook itself and on the front cover - although one of the most technically-proficient and detailed drawings within the guidebook as a whole - somewhat resembles a hybrid between this species and a Roe Deer to my eyes.
• I am fairly certain that the Platypus is incapable of rearing-up bipedally as the above illustration indicates!
• Several images give the strong impression that they are based on poorly-mounted taxidermy skins rather than any experience of living animals.

Curiously enough, those illustrations depicting doves and pigeons are near-universally good - something which gives the distinct impression that the artist responsible for the illustrations within this guidebook did have some experience of these species. The text primarily conveys a wide range of trivia relating to the various species mentioned, discussing their wild diet, behaviour and habitat and (where appropriate) information relating to their taxonomic status and kinship to other taxa discussed. Much of the taxonomic information discussed within the guidebook is heavily-outdated, even for the time, with the suggestion made (for instance) that bandicoots, bilbies, dasyurids and opossums formed a single family. It is, however, interesting to note that even within this guidebook - published over 15 years prior to the death of the last-recorded individual - it is suggested that the Thylacine may have been driven to extinction within the wild, something which strikes me as somewhat forward-thinking!




As previously mentioned, the remainder of the guidebook solely deals with mammalian diversity across the world, with zero mention - even in passing - of any bird or reptile species from this point onwards. These worldwide accounts comprise the following:

• European Animals
• Asiatic Animals
• African Animals
• North American Animals
• South American Animals

The information within these accounts is, if anything, even more antiquated and factually-incorrect than the content within the section of the guidebook discussing Australian species; some of the "gems" within include the following claims:

• that the wild aurochs had survived in captivity whilst the wisent had been recently driven to extinction
• that the European harvest mouse was the smallest-known species of mammal
• that the Asian Elephant routinely reaches ages exceeding 150 years in the wild
• that whilst Shetland Pony and carthorses were domesticated from the wild horses of Europe and Asia, racehorses originate from zebra stock

On a brighter note, it is rather interesting to observe the wide variety of species selected for discussion; rather than being restricted to "ABC" species, these accounts also cover taxa such as tuco-tucos, pangolins, saiga, the monito del monte, and okapi.

However, the general quality of the illustrations continues to be rather erratic, with some being attractive if a little inaccurate in appearance, whilst others are near-unrecognisable and (as noted) rather resemble the result of an incompetent taxidermist. Moreover, as previously discussed, there are repeated - and often out of the blue - occurrences of casual racism and xenophobia which mar the overall text, feeling somewhat out of place even for the time.




The collection plan/map presented towards the start of the guidebook is somewhat unorthodox in design; it comprises a smaller version covering a single page, and depicting the collection as a whole, followed by four larger-scale segments which (when taken as a single piece) comprise a larger and more thoroughly-labelled version of the map. Unfortunately, I feel this does not quite work - the segments do not line up correctly due to the format of the page and the wide margins, and as such it is difficult to cross-reference the individual segments with the smaller-scale version. However, it nonetheless provides an interesting and valuable insight into the general design and footprint of Taronga Zoo in the earliest days of its operation - something which does merit some praise.




Overall, this is a very strange guidebook indeed. Firstly, it barely touches on the subject of the zoological collection to which it pertains, with only the introduction (just about), the collection map, a very light smattering of photographs, and the discussion of vegetation species having any real bearing on Taronga Zoo itself. In many ways, despite having been published in the early 20th century, this guidebook *feels* like a much older book - not only is the zoological and taxonomic information within rather dated even for the time of publication, but there is also a distinct strain of casual racism and cultural superiority intertwined throughout the text which I have previously encountered only in guidebooks dating to the 19th century... and even then, seldom so overt. However, as a historical document showing some of the zoological, taxonomic and cultural attitudes of the past, and showcasing a wide variety of unusual and often-unsettling artwork, this guidebook is definitely one worth preserving for the future.

 

The latter - per my observation above:

the introduction concludes with a statement that the main body of the text would instead comprise a general summary of selected animal species throughout the world, some of which may (or may not) be contained within the zoo at any given time.

As I noted, the claim in this guidebook that discussing species/exhibits actually present at the zoo would be pointless is rather thoroughly belied by some of the other guidebooks of equal or greater age I have discussed!

It is, yes

 

Day 121: Zoo Berlin (1925) - Polar Bear



Page count: 48 pages
Photographs: 40 black-and-white photographs
Illustrations/diagrams: N/A
Layout: Comprehensive walkthrough account of collection.
Map: Fold-out at rear of guidebook

Today, we will take a look at the first in a series of guidebooks issued by Zoo Berlin in the years immediately following the German hyperinflation crisis of the early 1920s; due to the massive economic strain which had been placed on the collection by the double-blow of the Great War followed by the hyperinflation which resulted from the heavy war reparations imposed upon Germany at the end of the war, the collection had risked permanent closure - and indeed did close for a time. As a result, it is somewhat unsurprising that this guidebook was the first to be published at the collection for 11 years; to the best of my knowledge, sparse though it is given the patchy and incomplete records which remain regarding those guidebooks published at Zoo Berlin during the 19th century, this was the longest period which the collection had ever gone without publication of a guidebook, and remains so to this day. Only the decade-long intermission during the height of WWII and the years of repair and recovery which followed, and the eight years which have passed since the collection ceased to produce guidebooks in 2014, have come close to approaching this record.

One of the major ways in which the economic pressures placed upon Zoo Berlin at the time of publication can be discerned is in the format of this guidebook; rather than the lavish and lengthy publications we have looked at previously, this particular guidebook (along with those which immediately followed) is a much shorter and more succinct volume, and one printed on much thinner and more delicate paper. As we will see in the coming days, the first four guidebooks published during these recovery years all share a single cover image depicting a polar bear - the first such edition to fall into my possession will be discussed in due course, but for a long time I was content not to pursue the remaining three editions, preferring to prioritise other gaps in my personal collection of Zoo Berlin guidebooks. However, towards the start of this year I decided the time had come to fill these particular gaps - and after a few months of patience, observation and research on AbeBooks and eBay I was able to obtain the remaining editions displaying this particular cover; the guidebook we shall be discussing today was among these acquisitions.



The first point that needs to be made is that, as the above image shows, this particular edition of the guidebook is entirely undated - a feature which is shared with the 1926 edition. However, there are a number of differences - whether subtle or more pronounced - within the main body of the guidebook which allow the two to be differentiated with relative ease, most notably a key detail within the fold-out map at the rear which I shall discuss anon.

Although the typeface used within this guidebook is still rather more ornate and old-fashioned than would generally be my preference, it seems to be somewhat "toned down" from that found within previous Zoo Berlin guidebooks I have discussed over the course of the last few months; as a result, my ability to interpret the text is a little greater than it has been in the past, albeit in a faltering and slow fashion. Unfortunately, one of the other key changes within this guidebook when compared to previous editions is the fact that (due to the shorter and more simplified format) the "usual" discussion of the historical background to Zoo Berlin has been entirely omitted. In point of fact, the introduction to the guidebook comprises only a pair of short passages; the first of these discusses the walk-through account of the collection that follows, and highlights the intention to provide a shorter and more simplified guide to the zoo than had historically been the case, whilst the second provides a more general introduction to Zoo Berlin, citing the fact that at the time of publication it was the most speciose zoo in the world.




The main body of the guidebook, as noted, comprises a general walk-through account of the collection, relating the various exhibits, paddocks and houses which the visitor to the collection would encounter when making their way through the zoo; it would be more accurate to state that it actually comprises a primary walk-through, based on the assumption that the visitor had entered the zoo via the "Stadtbahn" entrance, and a pair of shorter secondary walk-through accounts. These discuss those exhibits which would be encountered initially by a visitor entering via the "Kursurstendamm" entrance or the "Tiergarten" entrance respectively, and note the point at which they join the main walk-through account. Despite the fact that the overall walk-through account of the zoo is significantly shorter than those found in previous editions which we have discussed within this thread, it is nonetheless rather more detailed than one would tend to find in other zoological guidebooks beyond those published at Zoo Berlin, providing a wide amount of detail about the design and appearance of key structures, the species displayed within the exhibits discussed, and further supplementary information about the zoological collection to which it pertains. It is, however, immediately apparent that there are three key aspects which have been nigh-ubiquitous in prior editions of the Zoo Berlin guidebook and which are now absent; firstly, where previously more or less every single species mentioned within the main body of the text has been cited by both common name and scientific name, here only the common name is given; secondly, the guidebook lacks any form of advertisement material; and finally, the copious and highly-detailed illustrations of exhibits, houses and animals within the collection have also been entirely dropped.

The impact of these three omissions - all of which doubtless play a major role in the overall reduction in page-count within this guidebook - in terms of the quality and value of this guidebook varies strongly, and is definitely somewhat subjective; I feel that the biggest loss is the omission of scientific names, both because of the fact that the common name of a given species in German may not have remained consistent across the century since the publication of this guidebook, and because the scientific names were generally printed in a significantly-less ornate typeface and could therefore be interpreted more readily. The loss of advertisements is also something of a pity, given the insight that this kind of material can provide on the sociological and economic background of the time - a subject which I have remarked on copiously in the past - but I grant that this is nowhere near a commonplace opinion! However, despite how thoroughly I enjoy and appreciate the illustrations found in earlier Zoo Berlin guidebooks, I feel that their loss is less of a blow than it could have otherwise been, for one key reason; for the first time, photographs depicting the major houses and exhibits within the zoo are provided within the main body of the text, serving as a de-facto replacement for the illustrations which had previously been present.

The main body of the text concludes with a short discussion of the various concert halls, restaurants and other non-zoological amenities available to those visiting the collection; as I believe I have remarked in the past, in many ways these were viewed as equal attractions to the zoological exhibits for those visiting the collection, rather than mere supplements. This, incidentally, is a subject I shall return to in more detail when discussing subsequent guidebooks from the 1920s.




As has been the case within prior editions of the Zoo Berlin guidebook, a series of photographic plates depicting a variety of species held within the collection at the time of publication can be found at the rear of this guidebook; naturally, as is the case for the exhibit/house photographs within the main body of the text, there is a reasonable amount of overlap between the various 1920's guidebooks I will be discussing over the next few posts. As such, I have attempted to select as wide a variety of images as possible for the purposes of this thread; in this case, I have selected a single double-page spread which includes a rather interesting photograph of Maned Rat, a species which has very seldom occurred within European zoological collections and is noteworthy as the only poisonous (as opposed to venomous) mammal species known to science.



The guidebook concludes with a highly-attractive, detailed and aesthetically-pleasing fold-out map of the collection, located within the interior rear cover; despite the intermission of 11 years since the preceding edition of the Zoo Berlin guidebook, the general style and format of this map has remained remarkably consistent - something which allows for a detailed comparison between editions, and therefore the observation of the growth and development of the zoo across the years. In this particular case, the specific details within the map are more or less identical to those within the 1914 map of the collection; this is somewhat unsurprising considering the economic hardship of the preceding decade would have been decidedly non-conductive to construction projects or expansion! However, the colour used within the map is significantly more vivid and bright, the line-work is finer and more subtle, and the typeface used is somewhat simpler - all of these factors contribute to a final product which is even more attractive and easy to reference than had previously been the case.

As I remarked above, this map also contains the key to determining whether an undated guidebook from this general time period was published in 1925 or 1926; although the map within this particular edition lacks any major differences when compared to the 1914 edition, this means that the addition of two supplementary structures on the boundaries of Zoo Berlin during the course of 1925 - a planetarium on the northwest corner, and a complex of stores to the east of the exhibition hall in the southwest - serves as an immediate identifying point within the next map we shall discuss. Put simply, if the map within a given guidebook from this time lacks these structures, it can only be the 1925 edition.



In conclusion, despite the relative brevity of this guidebook when compared to those which have preceded it - although it must once again be emphasised that by the standards of other collections this is a highly-detailed and lengthy volume - it is nonetheless deeply interesting, containing much of note, and represents a valuable item of primary historical evidence. Moreover, it is presented in an attractive and simple fashion - and despite the added complications created by the typeface used within the guidebook, is readily accessible to the reader.

As always, I open the floor up to any feedback, questions or comments - whether they relate to this guidebook or any other I have discussed over the past few months!

 

Day 122: Zoo Berlin (1926) - Polar Bear



Page count: 48 pages
Photographs: 42 black-and-white photographs
Illustrations/diagrams: N/A
Layout: Comprehensive walkthrough account of collection.
Map: Fold-out at rear of guidebook

This guidebook, which I obtained around the same time as the 1925 edition in a remarkable stroke of luck and coincidence earlier this year, is very much akin to its predecessor in general format and layout; although my ability to read and interpret the typeface used is improving somewhat, as previously mentioned, it is nonetheless still rather more faltering and hesitant than I would like. As such, although sufficient differences in the precise positioning of the text and location of line-breaks exist for me to be fairly confident that a more methodical perusal of the text would reveal numerous updates in the main body of the text between editions, this will have to wait for some point in the future.



However, there are still several points which are worth discussing here. For instance, one rather gets the impression that this guidebook - although very similar to the preceding edition - reflects an improvement in the general fortunes of Zoo Berlin overall; the quality and texture of the paper used seems subtly different, as does the overall clarity and quality of the printed text. Moreover, as can be seen above, even where photographs have been repeated from the previous edition they are significantly "cleaner" in appearance and generally-speaking more appealing to the eye. This rather suggests that the collection may have been slowing climbing out of the economic difficulties of the preceding decade, and could therefore afford to produce a guidebook of higher quality overall.




The main body of the guidebook, as was the case in the preceding edition, comprises a fairly comprehensive walk-through account of the various houses and exhibits throughout Zoo Berlin at the time of publication, along with key species displayed within, and supplemented by a number of black-and-white photographs depicting the most notable of these structures. Although some of these have been replicated from the 1925 edition of the guidebook, the majority are new; for the purposes of this thread I have scanned double-page spreads which contain discussion and photographic depictions of the following:

• Monkey House and Water-bird House; whilst the latter was situated on land which is now outside the zoo boundary, the former was located in more or less the exact site where the current-day equivalent can be found.
• Camel House - to the best of my knowledge, this structure was located in an area adjacent to the modern-day mountain exhibits and cattle stables, but which currently contains only vegetation.
• Ostrich House - as can be seen below, this structure (ultimately destroyed during WWII) was built in a similar faux-Egyptian temple style to the extant Elephant House at Zoo Antwerpen in Belgium, and was located in the rough position of the modern-day Elephant House and associated paddocks.

As noted, my ability to interpret the text is somewhat stymied by my lack of familiarity with the old-fashioned typeface used, although I am gradually getting better at this task; however, it is apparent from what little I *do* readily understand that the walk-through account contains large amounts of information about the design, architectural style and functional choices made during the construction of the exhibits/houses discussed - perhaps even moreso than was the case within the more long-form guidebooks published prior to the Great War. As such, I am certain that once I feel comfortable in returning to these mid-1920s guidebooks with a more practiced eye, I will be able to glean much of note.... perhaps including information which has yet to be formally-published within an English-language context.




As I remarked during the review of the 1925 edition of the Zoo Berlin guidebook, I have elected to select scans from the photographic plates which conclude the main body of this guidebook with the objective of highlighting images of particular interest - whether in terms of the species depicted, noteworthy individual animals, or photographs recording something of the enclosures or breeding successes at the collection - whilst avoiding repetition as best as possible. As such, in this particular case I draw the reader's attention to the above images depicting three separate species of elephant; a young African Bush Elephant, an African Forest Elephant from the so-called "pygmy" form of the species, and an adult Asian Elephant. It should be noted that the "pygmy" elephant would live around eight years at the zoo before dying at the age of c.16 years old in 1933, never having surpassed around 170cm in height. Due to the similar position and angle of the two African elephants within these photographs, the differences between the two species are quite visible!

Conversely, the images below were selected on the grounds that they not only highlighted some of the species which had been bred at Zoo Berlin around the time of publication, but moreover the upper-right photograph of an Eland and its calf gives some insight into the general appearance of one of the paddocks surrounding the Antelope House.



The fold-out map located within the interior back cover of the guidebook, as I discussed yesterday, contains several alterations when compared to that found within the 1925 edition; alongside the aforementioned Planetarium in the northwest, and the extension of the Exhibition Hall in the southwest to include further shops, an extended cinema and other amenities, a number of other changes are immediately visible. Firstly, the footpaths and courtyards within the zoo are white, whilst in the preceding map they were rendered in a lighter shade of green to the surrounding paddocks. Secondly, due to changes in road layout, the section of the old Kurfurstendamm running along the southern margin of Zoo Berlin has been renamed Budepesterstrasse, the name it retains to this day. Finally, a number of changes have occurred to the structures and exhibits within the main body of the zoo; the Neues Affenhaus has expanded significantly, with the resulting loss of an exhibit area for Alpine Chamois, the footprint of the zoo has expanded slightly northwards into the Tiergarten, and an area for special exhibitions and displays labelled "Sonder-schau" has been added to the north of the Fasanerie, adjacent to the new Planetarium. These alterations not only allow the guidebook to be conclusively dated to 1926 (recall that both the 1925 and 1926 editions of the Zoo Berlin guidebook are entirely undated within the title page, unlike subsequent editions) but provide further evidence to indicate the fact that after a decade of stagnation and periods of temporary closure due to the economic hardships of the Great War and hyperinflation crisis, Zoo Berlin was once again a thriving and financially-successful collection which was subject to new developments and construction, as was the wider city.



Overall, this is another highly-interesting guidebook, and one which - as I have remarked is the case for all of the guidebooks and other publications released by Zoo Berlin during the early decades of the 20th century - represents a valuable historical resource on several levels; not only does it contain a vast amount of information on the zoological collection to which it pertains, but it moreover gives an interesting insight into the way in which Germany as a whole was slowly recovering from the worst of the economic difficulties which had plagued the country over the course of the preceding decade, a brief oasis before the Great Depression and the concurrent rise of fascism.

 

Day 123: Zoo Berlin (1927) - Polar Bear



Page count: 48 pages
Photographs: 42 black-and-white photographs
Illustrations/diagrams: N/A
Layout: Comprehensive walkthrough account of collection.
Map: Fold-out at rear of guidebook

When collecting zoological guidebooks, there are many factors which may play a role when deciding whether or not to seek one particular edition of a guidebook over another; these could be related to an interest in a particular timespan, or a specific species or exhibit which may have recently arrived, or motivated by something as simple as the aesthetic appeal of the cover art. Naturally if one aims for completion as regards a particular collection, as has long been the case for myself where Zoo Berlin is concerned, these factors may comprise a matter of prioritization rather than a choice *not* to obtain a given guidebook. As one will have gathered by this point, the four Zoo Berlin guidebooks published in the aftermath of the Great War and hyperinflation crisis which I have been discussing recently are very much akin in overall content and design, although each does differ in various ways; as such, although I knew I would eventually aim to add all four editions to my personal collection, I was content for a long time to settle for a single edition. The reason I chose to seek out a copy of the 1927 edition as the initial representation of this time period, rather than either of the preceding editions or the one that followed, was rather more personal and perhaps unorthodox than one might guess! But more on that anon.




Today, I feel it would be worth highlighting the segment of the guidebook which discusses the
Großes-Raubtierhaus (or Large Carnivore House) and the nearby Aquarium, and which is accompanied by a photograph of the latter structure; the carnivore house was, as one might have guessed, all-but-destroyed during the devastation of WWII fewer than two decades later, but I find it rather interesting to note that the modern-day carnivore house (which recently re-opened after several years of renovations) stands more or less exactly on the site of its predecessor. Conversely, the Aquarium building still exists today despite having fared little better than any other structure within Zoo Berlin, with the photograph provided within this guidebook more-or-less looking identical to how the building looks in the present day. The text provides a reasonably large amount of information about the carnivore house considering the fact that only two or three paragraphs are devoted to the subject, with (as best I can tell, given my shaky understanding of the typeface) discussion of the fact that at the time of publication the house contained several different subspecies of leopard from across Africa, central Asia and south Asia, that several breedings had occurred and that - curiously enough - domestic dogs were often used as surrogate mothers for the resulting cubs. Conversely, the guidebook provides remarkably little information about the Aquarium considering the fact that it had existed for around 15 years by this point, with only a single sentence devoted to the subject; this is doubtless due to the fact that by this point in time, the Zoo-Aquarium was subject to a devoted guidebook of its own, written by the aquarium director Oskar Heinroth (of whom I have spoken previously).



Although I have already discussed prior iterations of the concluding passages within the main walk-through account which pertain to the concert hall, restaurant terraces, stores and ballrooms which were located throughout Zoo Berlin, and which represented a major attraction to the residents of the city above and beyond the zoological collection, this would be an appropriate location to discuss precisely *why* I chose to obtain the 1927 edition of the Zoo Berlin guidebook in particular, when trying to decide which of the four "polar bear" editions of the mid-1920s I would prioritize, and which I would leave until the time came for filling-in gaps within my personal collection.

A digression and brief history lesson - one of my favourite silent films of all time is Metropolis, a pioneering work of science-fiction by the director Fritz Lang which codified many of the visual and narrative tropes of the genre; unfortunately, the vast majority of the film was lost due to severe edits to the running time after the premiere (with further edits during the years that followed) and the destruction or loss of the remaining unedited copies, and the original live orchestral score was never recorded or re-used beyond the premiere. Despite fragments being discovered here and there over the years, it seemed that the complete Metropolis had been lost entirely - until a near-complete but heavily damaged copy of the premiere cut was discovered in an Argentina film archive in 2008, and (after substantial repair work) released with a new version of the original score in 2010.

Back to the topic at hand. As I have previously discussed, a large portion of the Ausstellungs-Halle (or Exhibition Hall) located within the southwest of Zoo Berlin - initially an integrated part of the zoo itself when it first opened in the early years of the 20th century, but which gradually became an independent entity which paid rent to the zoo - had been converted into a cinema during the years immediately prior to the Great War, the Ufa-Palast am Zoo. This cinema had been further renovated and expanded after the end of the hyperinflation crisis of the early 1920s, and by the time of publication was not only the largest cinema in Germany, but one of the most significant in Europe and perhaps worldwide.

As would be the case for many of us, if I were able to travel into the past one of the many locations I would like to visit would be Zoo Berlin during its height..... but when, exactly? Were I to travel back to the first years of the 20th century, there are a great number of species I could see which are now extinct or will never be readily-visible within zoological collections again.... but if I travelled to January 10th 1927, I could visit the iteration of the zoo presented within this guidebook and the immediately-preceding 1926 guidebook, and then conclude my day by attending the premiere of a complete, undamaged and intact Metropolis accompanied by a live orchestra at the neighbouring Ufa-Palast am Zoo!

It may be frivolous, and offbeat, and not at all what one might have expected.... but that is why I wanted to add the 1927 guidebook to my collection as a priority




As is standard with the guidebooks published by Zoo Berlin during the early decades of the 20th century, the guidebook concludes with a series of photographic plates depicting various of the species and exhibits located within the collection at the time of publication; as previously mentioned, I have been aiming to discuss different images throughout each of these recent reviews, and therefore avoid redundancy.

• The first pair of images I would like to highlight are the above images showing a young African Bush Elephant and a pygmy African Forest Elephant; these are naturally the same individuals depicted within photographs I discussed yesterday, but the increased age of both animals allows for a significantly better comparison between the two species - particularly given the fact that the same zookeeper is standing next to each animal and providing a means of judging scale and shape.
• The second group of photographs are images I have selected primarily due to the fact they provide an interesting head study of a young chimpanzee located within the collection at the time of publication; given the apparent age of the animal depicted in the photographs, and the fact that the first birth of the species at Zoo Berlin took place in 1921 (to a wild-caught female from Cameroon who arrived pregnant, rather than a captive conception) I think it is likely to be the animal in question.
• The final group of photographs are images I wished to highlight purely because of the fact I have a soft spot for Greater Galago, and because they serve to illustrate an interesting wider point - including the aardvark here, and the guineafowl and oryx in the preceding scan, a total of ten images within these photographic plates - one-third of the total - are explicitly stated to depict animals imported from Ethiopia.

The guidebook concludes, as usual, with a highly-attractive and aesthetically-pleasing fold-out map of the collection located within the interior rear pages; in this particular case, I can discern few changes from the map located within the 1926 edition we discussed yesterday... although curiously enough, the various paths, terraces and open areas connecting exhibits and houses are once again depicted in a pale green colour, as was the case within the 1925 map, rather than white as was the case in 1926!



Hopefully, I have once again managed to convey the high quality of this guidebook, and the vast degree of value it represents both as a primary historical document of the zoological collection to which it pertains, a genuinely-excellent guidebook in its own right, and as an item of significant interest as a wider historical record. As I think I have mentioned on a number of occasions, given my deep interest in the preservation of historical records, books and documents for future generations I suspect that even if I were not a zoo enthusiast I would find this guidebook - and those like it - fascinating and something precious. I also beg my readers' pardon for the digression into film history and my love of science-fiction!

 

Day 124: Zoo Berlin (1928) - Polar Bear



Page count: 48 pages
Photographs: 42 black-and-white photographs
Illustrations/diagrams: N/A
Layout: Comprehensive walkthrough account of collection.
Map: Fold-out at rear of guidebook

Today, we will be taking a look at the fourth and final item in this series of Zoo Berlin guidebooks published during the mid-to-late 1920s; as was the case for the 1925 and 1926 editions, this is a relatively-recent addition to my personal collection, having been obtained in early March 2022, and (despite a fairly pronounced amount of water damage which has caused a rippled effect within the pages of the guidebook) is in remarkably good condition, lacking the delicacy of some of the preceding items. As such, of the four guidebooks in question, this is the edition which I have found myself consulting most often in the hopes of learning how to better interpret the typeface style used within the early 20th century publications by Zoo Berlin - something which I feel I am gradually getting the hang of.




As I will discuss further in the fullness of time, this guidebook is actually one of two editions published in 1928; the second guidebook is extremely scarce, representing a transitional point between two "iterations" of the Zoo Berlin guidebook, and as such the edition we will be discussing today is rather more commonplace - in fact, of the four "polar bear" editions it is perhaps the one which I have seen sold on the secondary market most often.

Today, given the fact that the general contents of the main walk-through account within the guidebook are broadly similar to those which immediately-preceded it, with any differences hard to discern until I have improved my grasp of the typeface used and can therefore compare the various editions more directly, I have once again elected to select a specific part of the guidebook for further discussion. In this particular case, I draw the reader's attention to the lengthy and rather detailed account relating to the Zoo Berlin "vogelhaus" or bird house - the segment included below comprises only around 40% of the total length of this segment, which is possibly one of the most in-depth portions of the guidebook as a whole given the relatively abridged nature of the walk-through account compared to those found in pre-Great War guidebooks. Although, as has been standard for these guidebooks, the common names cited are unaccompanied by scientific names, and often pertain to overall groupings of birds rather than particular taxa, the sheer breadth and range of the bird collection at Zoo Berlin during the late 1920s is very much conveyed nonetheless.... especially when one considers that the house in question contained only a portion of the overall avian collection at the zoo, with significant numbers of species also houses within the nearby wetland bird house to the south, and the fasanerie/pheasantry block on the northwest margins of the zoo. None of the three structures in question survived the destruction of WWII, and (unlike the elephant house and the large carnivore house) their rough location does not correspond to equivalent structures today; the bird house discussed within the below text was located approximately at the current-day site of the exterior enclosures for the primate house, whilst the 1920's pheasantry was located around the southern margins of the rhinoceros house currently under construction. The site of the wetland bird house no longer falls within zoo boundaries, and is now occupied by several external stores, restaurants and other commercial premises.




Having focused somewhat on photographs of mammal species within the photographic plates at the rear of the guidebook in prior posts, I felt that it would be interesting here to highlight a number of plates which focus more on some of the avian species held within the Zoo Berlin collection at the time of publication, including Bornean Crested Pheasant (a chick, implying that the species was successfully bred at Berlin during this timespan), an ostrich which (although unlabelled as such within the caption here) appears from the text elsewhere in this guidebook to have belonged to the Somali species, and two photographs depicting one of the various red-billed hornbill species - given the fact that wild-caught birds comprised the majority of the collection, it is likely these photographs show a pure taxon, but my knowledge (and the limitations of the black and white image) do not permit more exact identification. I have also highlighted an image which depicts a practice mentioned within one of the previous posts - to wit, the use of domestic dogs to raise young carnivoran species.... in this case, a litter of Eurasian Otter!



The guidebook concludes with, as always, an extremely detailed and aesthetically-attractive map of the collection, which is comprehensively labelled with the names of the various exhibits or the taxa found within, and which clearly depicts the houses, public walkways and lawns, and other structures within the zoo in an easy-to-understand fashion. To the best that I can work out, through careful comparison of the two maps in question, this particular map is identical to that found in the 1927 edition of the guidebook, barring one minor detail - the text within the various labels appears to be both clearer and darker, in a fashion which I do not *think* is merely an illusion of the guidebook's age.



Hopefully, over the last few days, I have managed to convey just how high-quality these four Zoo Berlin guidebooks are - providing a massive amount of information both for the zoo enthusiast, those interested in zoological history along with socio-economic and cultural history, and those who have an interest in old documents and primary sources! I, of course, fall into all of these categories - as do many of those who have picked up the hobby of collection zoological guidebooks naturally, any questions or feedback would be more than welcome.

As I will be travelling rather a lot over the coming days and weeks, the "main" content within this thread will be pausing for a short break - however, I have a few small posts up my sleeve to keep things chugging along, and I think this is an ideal opportunity for those reading this thread to discuss their *own* guidebook collections. Feel free to post as much as you like on the subject - this thread was, after all, primarily intended to spark conversation and discussion!

 

With all the travelling I have done lately I've been so tired I keep forgetting to upload my prepared "stopgap" posts to keep the thread chugging along - but the one I had specifically planned for today is important enough that it is worth setting aside some valuable travel spoons.

Given how bleak today is for those interested in zoo history - marking as it does the closure of Bristol Zoo, only a little more than a decade short of its bicentennial year and as such representing the loss of one of the oldest and most historically significant zoological collections in the world - I thought it appropriate to upload the following image depicting my personal collection of guidebooks from the zoo:



Doubtless due to the imminent closure, I have noticed that of late, even commonplace guidebooks for Bristol have been going for pretty large figures on the secondary market. I would be interested to hear about the guidebooks from Bristol Zoo owned by those reading this thread!

In a curious bit of happenstance, I am posting this from the grounds of one of the few collections which significantly exceed the age and historical significance of Bristol Zoo - to wit, Tiergarten Schönbrunn.