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American Wild Life, Illustrated;1944

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:25.00 USD Estimated At:100.00 - 300.00 USD
American Wild Life, Illustrated;1944
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For your consideration is this 1944 edition of "American Wild Life, Illustrated", compiled by the Writers' Program of the Work Projects Administration in the City of New York. The title page also notes that the project was sponsored by "The Mayor of the City of New York, The Honorable Fiorello H. LaGuardia." Subsequent printings do not have this note. LaGuardia was the very popular 3 term Republican Mayor of New York (1934-1945) who cleaned up the corruption of Tammany Hall. Though a Republican, LaGuradia's politics were Progressive and he was a strong supporter of Roosevelt's "New Deal". As a result, New York City was the recipient of a good deal of the WPA funds, including the funds to publish this volume. The book, originally published in 1940, was an early effort at promoting wildlife conservation to "save our wildlife". According to the Foreword, it was "the only comprehensive...popular American natural History [written] in the past 35 years". It is illustrated with numerous black and white photographic plates as well as six color plates and contains short descriptions of American mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fishes. The book is bound in blue cloth with gilt title on the spine and blindstamped title on front cover and decoration on the spine. The book is in excellent condition with a tight binding and no markings of rips to the pages. There is some minor edge-wear to the top of the back cover. Measuring 5.75" x 8.5" x 1.5".