Author: Berg, L. S. et al. (eds.)
Title: Fishery of the USSR. Promyslovyye Ryby SSSR (??????????? ???? ????).
Description: Moskva, Pishepromizdat, 1949. 4to (29.2 x 20.4 cm). 787 pp. with ten full colour plates tipped in, numerous text figures (text volume). Publisher's navy buckram with gilt title and ornaments on the spine, gilt title and vignette on the front boards. Bevelled edges. = The Soviet Union shortly after World War II is usually associated with poverty and cheap simplicity, but this monograph on the economically important fishes of Russia and adjacent countries (the former Soviet Union) shows quite the opposite. There are no compromises in quality. The editor and main author, Leo Semenovich Berg (1876-1950) was one of Russia leading scientists and a prolific author on ichthyology, palaeontology, and geology. The plates are delicately lithographed and printed after fine watercolours, and carefully tipped in. The paper quality is excellent throughout. Described are the various species, from fresh water drainage systems, and lakes, including Lake Baikal, and from brackish and salt waters, including the Arctic Ocean, North Atlantic, Black Sea, Caspian Sea, Aral Sea, Sea of Okhotsk, and the Sea of Japan. The inclusion of, for instance, Lake Baikal implies that endemic species are included, the inclusion of the Aral Sea implies that some now extinct species are included. Text in Russian with Latin nomenclature. The atlas volume, with 230 plates in portfolio is not included. One bookdealer reports 12 tipped in plates but that is certainly erroneous. This volume is complete. Library stamp on front free endpaper, label remnant on spinbe foot; otherwise a very good, clean copy.

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