Talk:Observer's Books

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Reference works (inactive)

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External links[edit]

All the external links are to commercial websites of book dealers. Should they be in Wikipedia? Unless anyone has any objection, I propose deleting them as per WP:LINKSTOAVOID. Tony Holkham (talk) 14:41, 5 December 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Let's do it at once. Chiswick Chap (talk) 14:46, 5 December 2014 (UTC)[reply]

What a waste of good editors' time.SovalValtos (talk) 16:46, 5 December 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Derivation of content[edit]

The following is personal observation, so not reliably sourced, but may prompt research from someone better placed.

Having an interest in Nature since childhood, I acquired a number of Observers Books, and subsequently other publications including a number published by Frederick Warne & Co. I have noticed that the Observer's Books volumes on a given nature topic are usually abridgements of more comprehensive volumes previously published by Warne in their 'Wayside and Woodland' series, with greatly edited-down texts and of illustrations extensively drawn from the 'parent' W&W titles. The latter were evidently aimed at an adult-level readership and some were originally published, by Warne or other publishers, as early as the 1890s. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.200.40.9 (talk) 11:27, 4 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, see

Marren, Peter; Carter, John (2002) [1999]. The Observer's Book of Observer's Books (revised ed.). Leeds: Peregrine Books. pp. 17, 20, 24, 27, 147–150. ISBN 0-9520268-5-6. 99.

where we find that the first seven (British Birds through to Grasses, Sedges and Rushes) all used pre-existing illustrations, with text derived from the corresponding book in the Wayside and Woodland series. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 16:50, 4 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

In Popular Culture[edit]

In the Aardman animated classic Wallace and Grommit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, the vicar pulls a reference book off his shelf called "The Observer's Book of Monsters." Surely that's worth a mention in this article? 2600:1700:2480:D2E0:D50B:C2AF:9B2D:2D6E (talk) 23:44, 29 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]