Kolosse urzeitlicher Kontinente und Meere

Colossi of Prehistoric Continents and Seas

Book: Colossi of Prehistoric Continents and Seas
Authors: Josef Augusta and Zdenek Burian
Language: German
Publisher: Artia
Year: 1966
Condition: Good, used condition

Colossi of Prehistoric Continents and Seas is a 126-page, large-format (approx. 26x35cm) book, bound in full cloth with a colour dust jacket. The 23 full-page colour illustrations were painted by the Czech artist Zdenek Burian, with text by Josef Augusta. The book also contains numerous black-and-white illustrations and is in good condition with minimal signs of use. The dust jacket is well preserved but shows a few small tears, and the spine is sun-faded.

6 of these large-format, magnificent colour volumes were published in the 1960s by Artia in Prague and were released simultaneously in several languages (Czech, German, English, French, Spanish). Animals of Prehistoric Times and Prehistoric Man can still be found today with a bit of patient searching. Both of these books were also often released as licensed editions by other publishers, in which case only the publisher details in the imprint were changed, and sometimes different images were used for the dust jackets. The Book of Mammoths and Colossi of Prehistoric Continents and Seas are considerably rarer. Presumably the rarest is Reptiles of the Ancient Seas. The somewhat smaller book Flying Saurians and Prehistoric Birds is rare but does occasionally turn up. All 6 books share the fantastic and striking illustrations by Zdenek Burian (1905-1981), who captured his visions with great expressive power on canvas. For a long time, his imagery shaped the perception of dinosaurs in Europe.

Tags: zdenek burian, urzeit, dinosaurier, josef augusta, artia verlag