The trilobite book. A visual journey / Книга трилобитов. Визуальное путешествие

It took me approximately 15 years to put together the material included in the first edition of my book, Trilobites, a Photographic Atlas, and see it published by the University of Chicago Press in 1975. The task included, first of all, the fun part—the treasure hunt—digging out the specimens from their burial rock at several locations around the world. Looking for the best-preserved find was often a frustrating enterprise. Once the specimens were brought home, the unwanted cover matrix had to be chipped away, typically under the optical microscope with a variety of tools; and often the specimens had to be prepared for photography using appropriate techniques to enhance their appearance. Then came the photography, at that time using closeups with fine-grain black-and-white film, under well-studied illumination, with my Leica cameras and, when needed, magnifying aids. It took some 20 or 30 shots to produce a view that would satisfy my taste. Developing the film and printing the photographs were also parts of my repertoire, using all the tricks of the trade. The fieldwork was enriched by loans from musty museum depositories and by borrowing samples from collector friends. In parallel with the assembly of the pictures, the paleontological identification of the material had to be sorted out of the technical literature, and many hours were spent in the library. Writing the text to accompany the selected images and editing the work were laborious, especially prior to the availability of word processors. The goal of the book was to entice a sizeable audience of amateur fossil collectors, students and professional paleontologists alike—by offering a blend of visual experience and technical significance. <...>