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Title: The Smithsonian Series (Patron\'s Edition, 10-Volume Set); Author: Charles Greeley Abbot (Editor-in-Chief), Webster Prentiss True and other Smithsonian scholars; Publisher: The Series Publishers, Inc.; Format: Hardcover Book Set; Features: Illustrated, decorative facsimile royal bindings, gilt page edges, registration leaf, laid-in promotional and certification inserts, frontispiece plates; Language: English; Original Language: English; Publication Year: 1949; Country of Origin: United States; Intended Audience: Adults; Narrative Type: Nonfiction; Type: Historical and scientific survey; Topic: Smithsonian Institution, natural history, science & technology, American museums; Genre: History, Natural History, Science & Technology; Edition: Special Patron\'s Edition; Book Series: The Smithsonian Series; Color: Multicolor (red, green, blue, and brown cloth with gilt); Signed: No; Vintage: Yes; Era: 1940s.
Scope and content: Ten-volume nonfiction series prepared by officers and scholars of the Smithsonian Institution to present an accessible survey of the museum\'s history, collections, and research activities across disciplines such as zoology, anthropology, geology, astronomy, and applied science, with Volume One focusing on the origins, mission, and growth of the Institution itself as shown. Essays describe major departments, landmark investigations, and the development of national collections while highlighting the role of the Smithsonian in preserving knowledge and natural and cultural heritage.
Features and layout: Each hardcover volume opens with blank endpapers, half-title and title pages, and a contents section, followed by clearly typeset text in a readable serif font; numerous black-and-white illustrations, halftone photographs, diagrams, and color plates are interleaved throughout, in some cases protected by captioned tissue guards as shown. Chapters are organized into thematic parts (for example, a bird\'s-eye view of the Smithsonian and its halls, then the beginnings of the Institution) and conclude with indexes to aid reference use.
Publication and identifiers: Title page credits The Smithsonian Series with Charles Greeley Abbot, D.Sc., former Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, as editor-in-chief; Volume One, The Smithsonian Institution, is authored by Webster Prentiss True, Chief, Editorial Division, Smithsonian Institution, as shown. Copyright page lists 1949 copyright by The Series Publishers, Inc., with earlier copyrights 1929, 1934, 1938, 1943, and 1944 by Smithsonian Institution Series, Inc., and notes that the work was formerly published under the title Smithsonian Scientific Series; text states that the set is printed in the United States of America under provisions of the Pan-American copyright convention.
Packaging and design: Patron\'s Edition volumes are bound in richly colored cloth (including red, green, blue, and brown) with elaborate gold-stamped borders, armorial devices, and royal cyphers on the front and back boards, reproducing historic French and English royal bindings as described on the binding-design page; spines carry gilt titling \"The Smithsonian Series\" with individual volume titles and ornate scrollwork. Page edges are finished in metallic gilt, and selected volumes feature decorative red-printed border pages registering the set to named patrons and bearing a printed facsimile signature of Secretary A. Wetmore as shown.
Included: Listing is for the ten pictured hardcover volumes comprising The Smithsonian Series Patron\'s Edition by The Series Publishers, Inc. only, along with the laid-in \"A Promise Kept\" explanatory leaflet and Smithsonian certification sheet shown; no slipcase, dust jackets, CDs, digital access codes, or additional supplementary materials are included.
Notes: Photos show the exact set you will receive, including group views of the spines and gilt page edges, samples of the decorative covers and plain back boards, the patron registration and certification pages, binding-design note, contents pages, and selected illustrated plates and text spreads as shown.
