Welcome to The New Naturalist Collectors Club

" The New Naturalist library had its origins in the dark days of wartime London. William "Billy" Collins dreamed up the idea of a series of books on the wildlife and natural landscapes of Britain that would be illustrated as far as possible with colour photographs. To give the series some scientific respectability, he invited Julian Huxley, then Britain's most famous biologist, and his young protégé, the ornithologist James Fisher, to act as commissioners and editors. The quartet was completed with Wolfgang Foges of Adprint Ltd, who would supply scarce American colour film, and produce all the maps and diagrams. Of course things did not go exactly to plan. With the first four volumes launched in 1945 and 1946, the series gained momentum, and became a byword for modern science presented in an accessible and attractive way. For at least twenty years there was nothing else quite like them, and many titles became classic textbooks for schools and universities. Sixty years on, the series is still in good health, having been given a new lease of life with full colour illustrations - just as Billy Collins dreamed, all those years ago. "

Peter Marren