Books, anyone?

Hi all. What cactus related books do you own??

Despite the advances of technology nothing beats a hard copy! Some really beautifully illustrated reads below. What are your favourites?

I've ordered Patrick Knoll's San Predo book looking forward to that.

I'd love to get a copy of the star astrophytum book to drool over. Anyone have a copy and can recommend it?

There are not so many Astrophytum books written in English.
Although the standard of English in the book is ordinary, it shows many photos of Astrophytum.
My friend bought 2 books and gave me one.

Oh great Hanazono, I was thinking about purchasing one myself but I haven't heard anything back from star astrophytum.

That looks like a great book!!!

Hanazono wrote:

There are not so many Astrophytum books written in English.
Although the standard of English in the book is ordinary, it shows many photos of Astrophytum.
My friend bought 2 books and gave me one.

I purchased this book too. The pictures are fantastic and it was good to learn some of the history. Fantastic book.

Hanazono i wonder if you might know the contents of MR. Suguri's book mentioned in the astrophytum book. Pg. 66.

I wonder if it might be worth trying to decipher (difficult for me). Possibly some good info on japanese cacti growing?

The contents of his book shown on page 66 are:
-Visiting record to cactus habitats
-Key points of the propagation methods for each species referred to the habitat environment

The book is written in Japanese.
Although there are many cactus related Japanese websites, they are almost all written in Japanese.
Only 1 site is written in English. It is a bit old but you may have a look http://www.shaboten.com/indexen.html

I'm sure some of you may have seen this 'The History of Astrophytum in Japan' Cactus Nursery Saisen-En : http://saisen-en.com/HAJ_1.pdf

Very interesting read!! Got to hand it to the Japanese. When they decide to do something, they do it almost too well.

e.g.
Iwagumi- Aquascaping of a fish tank.
Saikei - Miniature landscapes.
Bonsai - self explanitory.

One of authors of the book, Mr Saeki is the owner of Saisen-En.
I think the website descrived by astro_clo is the copy of the book.
It is same description and photos as the book.

An embarrassing confession, but I like flipping through my antiques....Borg's "Cacti" (1951), Edgar and Brian Lamb's 5-volume collection "The Illustrated Reference on Cacti and Other Succulents" (1950's to 60's). And a more modern one: Michael Kiesling's "Tephrocactus and Other Prickly Pears."

Cactusjane. I too have Borg's book. Is this the same edition you have?

Here's a unique little gem!! If you like cactus porn this one is beautifully illustrated with a huge collection of crested and mutated cacti and succulents. It is a very interesting read and sheds light on many different forms of mutation. The only issue I have is that the author has attempted to create his own nomenclature to describe certain mutations and other phenomena. Unfortunately, (from what i have seen so far) his wordings haven't been embraced by the wider cactus community.  

Hi Sneaky - How beautiful! My Borg has a plain green cover and is the 1951 (revised) edition. Errr..I must work out how to put a photograph here. I have a mobile phone with a camera and can email a photo but this looks beyond my simple brain  
I also enjoy Innes and Glass "The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Cacti" (Quantum Books, London, 1991.) Old nomenclature but some marvellous pictures.
Occasionally I have seen some of the real classics for sale (Britton and Rose etc) but they are serious money! I think some may be made publicly available on-line as the copyrights have expired.

Here's a really good read for those Loph enthusiasts out there. In depth and very informative. Covers the migration and evolution of peyotism from Mesoamercia to the North American native cultures. It also covers a whole heap of other topics surrounding this particular species. One of the best books on this plant that I have encountered so far.

I dont have this one but id really like to own it. One of these days.

Here is an beautiful little piece! It is quite a good read. Mostly general information about growing and caring for ferocactus. The species information is centered around the authors trip to mexico to see the plants in the wild.

Very beautifully illustrated.