Very old fish book I found at work

[elephantnose3334]

I work at an op-shop in Fremantle and someone donated this rare beauty of an old fishkeeping book: Tropical Aquariums, Plants and Fishes by A. Laurence Wells to the store. I ended up buying it for a dollar because of a discount.

@Colin_T might like this.

1/2

 

[elephantnose3334]

2/2

Note the black ruby tetra had a word that isn't racially acceptable anymore in its name, it was written in 1937 (revised in 1954).

 

[Magnum Man]

buying that was a no brainer, I would have as well

 

[GaryE]

Whenever I see an old aquarium book, I get it. First, it's fun to see what people were doing, and second, sometimes pre-technology tips can come in handy.

I found a bunch of magazine booklets from the mid 1930s a few years ago, and yeah, the racism in their pages was disturbing. How they managed to get so many hateful and ignorant statements into articles about fish is impressive - they must have been trying very hard. Then you think about what was happening in the world at the time, and I guess the writers were in good company. They wrote like they thought they were great comedians.

I'm always interested to see how many of the fish in the old books aren't available anymore. That is a good score!

 

[Innesfan]

Nice! I have the Wells book but not with the dustcover. Great find!

 

[elephantnose3334]

Whenever I see an old aquarium book, I get it. First, it's fun to see what people were doing, and second, sometimes pre-technology tips can come in handy.

I found a bunch of magazine booklets from the mid 1930s a few years ago, and yeah, the racism in their pages was disturbing. How they managed to get so many hateful and ignorant statements into articles about fish is impressive - they must have been trying very hard. Then you think about what was happening in the world at the time, and I guess the writers were in good company. They wrote like they thought they were great comedians.

I'm always interested to see how many of the fish in the old books aren't available anymore. That is a good score!

It's interesting, and I've never seen a book like that before.

 

[Innesfan]

There was a boom in aquarium literature in the 1930s on both sides of the pond, with many books like the Wells published in the USA, UK, Germany, Denmark, France etc. Most had beautiful artistic renderings of the fish. Then along came Wm. T. Innes with the first edition of EXOTIC AQUARIUM FISHES in 1935 which for the first time had photographs for each species, all taken by him, and some hand-colored.

 

[GaryE]

I used to know a few people who collected both antique aquariums, and old aquarium books. I imagine that side of the hobby continues on.

Early in the internet, a killifish keeper in Germany was building a website that he allowed me to download all the photos from. The technology was simpler, and those photos were not great compared to what cameras can do now, but it was very well done. He went in for surgery and died suddenly on the table. His family immediately stopped paying to maintain his website, and like so many aquarist websites (often of outstanding quality), it vanished.

Books, websites - good work disappears and I can see the value in keeping it, even if it's imperfect.

 

[Innesfan]

I used to know a few people who collected both antique aquariums, and old aquarium books. I imagine that side of the hobby continues on.

It does. Here's the link to a website for The Museum of Aquarium and Pet History. If you have interest in this area you can get lost for hours at this site. Many of us with large collections of literature and artifacts contribute to this uber-collection for posterity. I plan to send all of my stuff when I decide to divest.

https://moaph.org/

 

[elephantnose3334]

It does. Here's a website for The Museum of Aquarium and Pet History. If you have interest in this area you can get lost for hours at this site. Many of us with large collections of literature and artifacts contribute to this uber-collection for posterity. I plan to send all of my stuff when I decide to divest.

https://moaph.org/

Interesting...

 

[elephantnose3334]

It does. Here's the link to a website for The Museum of Aquarium and Pet History. If you have interest in this area you can get lost for hours at this site. Many of us with large collections of literature and artifacts contribute to this uber-collection for posterity. I plan to send all of my stuff when I decide to divest.

https://moaph.org/

Is the MoAPH an American or Australian source?

 

[GaryE]

It appears American to me.

I wonder if the physical space when it opens will someday have a display of all of us, taxidermy stuffed in front of electronic devices talking on TFF!

 

[Magnum Man]

it's interesting, this is listed as a very old book, yet books have been around for 100's of years...

I be curious when the hobby started, was it with the paradise fish, that traveled to England by ship ( sorry, I forgot the famous guy that facilitated the trip, 1800's??? or did the hobby begin before that???

 

[elephantnose3334]

it's interesting, this is listed as a very old book, yet books have been around for 100's of years...

I be curious when the hobby started, was it with the paradise fish, that traveled to England by ship ( sorry, I forgot the famous guy that facilitated the trip, 1800's??? or did the hobby begin before that???

I don't know, but the aquarium hobby might had began in 19th-very early 20th centuries.

 

[Magnum Man]

after a little digging...

Evidences suggest that the Sumerians were the first to keep fish in captivity (2500 BC), but it was for food. The Egyptians and Romans were likely the first groups to keep fish as something more than just a food source. However, it was the Chinese who were the first to actively keep and breed fish for their aesthetics. Ornamental fish arrived in the United States in the late 19th century/early 20th century.