Recently I had a visit from several members of the Greater Seattle Aquarium Society, and on that occasion I displayed a number of books and magazines from my library that were published in the early days of the fishkeeping hobby. Of course, 'early' is a relative term- people have been keeping fishes in captivity for thousands of years- but the origins of 'early' fishkeeping in the West date back to the mid-19th century, when 'exotic' species first arrived in Germany, France, and Great Britain. My collection doesn't go back that far; rather, it dates from the 1920's, which might be considered to be the origins of 'modern' (another relative term) fishkeeping. I thought this topic might be of interest to Fishbox members.
We start with this work by Arthur Rachow, one of the pioneers of the hobby. His 'Tropical Aquariafish Catalogue' was first published in English in 1927, and then in German, as 'Handbuch der Zierfischkunde,' a year later. In the Preface to this volume, Rachow states that his intent is 'to enumerate all those tropical fresh-water fishes found suitable for the aquarium.' A daunting task, even in 1927, but as a point of reference, the entire list for the family Cichlidae includes only 42 species, whilst the Characidae includes 65 entries.
The fishes are arranged into taxonomic families, and the physical characteristics of each species are described, including fin ray counts, morphometric data, and coloration. This is indeed a catalogue, and although many of the scientific names are no longer valid, most of the entries are easily recognizable. This is aided greatly by the exquisite black-and-white (96 plates) and coloured (17 plates) illustrations, a few of which are shown below. As is typical for this period, most of the plates are hand-drawn.
This isn't a book about fishkeeping per se, so there are no discussions of husbandry. As Herr Rachow indicated in his title, this is a catalogue, and as such, it's main interest today is to offer a glimpse into the hobby as it existed a century ago.
There are other works from this period and beyond if this topic is of interest.
We start with this work by Arthur Rachow, one of the pioneers of the hobby. His 'Tropical Aquariafish Catalogue' was first published in English in 1927, and then in German, as 'Handbuch der Zierfischkunde,' a year later. In the Preface to this volume, Rachow states that his intent is 'to enumerate all those tropical fresh-water fishes found suitable for the aquarium.' A daunting task, even in 1927, but as a point of reference, the entire list for the family Cichlidae includes only 42 species, whilst the Characidae includes 65 entries.
The fishes are arranged into taxonomic families, and the physical characteristics of each species are described, including fin ray counts, morphometric data, and coloration. This is indeed a catalogue, and although many of the scientific names are no longer valid, most of the entries are easily recognizable. This is aided greatly by the exquisite black-and-white (96 plates) and coloured (17 plates) illustrations, a few of which are shown below. As is typical for this period, most of the plates are hand-drawn.
This isn't a book about fishkeeping per se, so there are no discussions of husbandry. As Herr Rachow indicated in his title, this is a catalogue, and as such, it's main interest today is to offer a glimpse into the hobby as it existed a century ago.
There are other works from this period and beyond if this topic is of interest.
