Unheard of - A publisher on Time!

When the first adverts came out of the Handbook of Birds of the World, to be published in 10 volumes, by a relatively little known (to birders in the UK anyway) publisher from Spain, it aroused a lot of interest and not a little scepticism that the project would ever be finished.

The first volume Ostrich to Ducks was so good that many found it irresistible and optimistically trusted that the series would be completed, at the rate of one every two years as promised. When it came obvious that to do the job properly it would take 16 volume, many of us in more advanced years wondered if we'd see the last books, even if it did get completed. Well, the publishers, Lynx, upped the rate to one a year, and unlike the publishers we are used to in birding literature in the UK, they kept to their time table. This week Volume 16 arrived, to finish the set, and what a fabulous achievement it is. Sixteen fantastic books, with many interesting subjects at the front of the family accounts in each one. Comprehensive studies of each family, with many photographs, and then plates illustrating each species. In all over twelve and a half thousand pages, over 1000 plates and six thousand seven hundred photographs. My only worry is, if ever I get asked onto Desert Island Discs will I be allowed to take the complete set as my book. If I was marooned for just one year I'd have to read and inwardly digest 34 or 35 pages a day to get through the set!

Here a summary of the books

vol	Pages	Plates	photos	year published
1	696	50	382	1992
2	640	60	302	1994
3	824	60	384	1996
4	674	70	236	1997
5	760	76	406	1999
6	589	45	385	2001
7	613	70	317	2002
8	845	81	477	2003
9	864	78	440	2004
10	896	81	427	2005
11	800	55	343	2006
12	816	56	436	2007
13	880	60	536	2008
14	896	51	657	2009
15	880	61	495	2010
16	894	81	499	2011
Total	12567	1035	6722

Lastly a warning, beware back ice. Hopefully I'll get my car back before Christmas, and luckily I was only going reasonably slowly when I touched my brake with the intention of moving over into a passing bay on Archers Court Road near the junction with Waldershare Road. I discovered that the road was the slipperiest I've ever known and lost my front bumper on the bank at the side of the road. No other vehicle involved, although the guy in the car coming towards me looked a bit worried as mine pirouetted into the road verge. Luckily no one hurt, but a bloomin' nuisance.