I have the book Windows on Nature which is about the dioramas at the American Museum of Natural History. The book talks about the dioramas at the museum and the story of how they were made and how the animals in the dioramas were collected. Reading the book, I realize just how amazing Carl Akeley was. This man pioneered taxidermy, was one of the first people to bring back information about mountain gorillas in the wild, and on top of that, survived being attacked by an elephant and a leopard! Not only did he survive a leopard attack, but he also killed the leopard that tried to kill him by strangling it to death.
I don't own it, but you might be interested in this new book: https://www.amazon.ca/Natures-Mirror-Taxidermists-Americas-Endangered/dp/022673031X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=101VJZ0TC3I9I&keywords=nature's+mirror&qid=1645281459&s=books&sprefix=nature's+mirror,stripbooks,101&sr=1-1
There's also this great biography of Akeley: Kingdom Under Glass The Zoo Review: Book Review: Kingdom Under Glass
I also like Akeley dioramas, and zoos today can still benefit from them as an inspiration for making exhibits. It is worth to say that Akeley dioramas were safari parks of the 19. century. Museum curators were great lovers of nature, and museum dioramas were the only way Americans or Europeans could see wild nature - before the time of color photography, films, naturalistic zoos or cheap and safe tourism. It is said that some of best exhibits at Bronx Zoos were inspired by AMNH dioramas, and it shows in Bronx zoos' World of Birds or Jungle World.
