The book arrived on the morning of 19th August.

Superb and many thanks.

I'm still waiting (patiently, it's not a complaint!).

Got mine today, unfortunately they packed the wrong book!

So I'll have to return it, then await for (hopefully) the correct book to come.

Tut Tut!

p.s I wonder whose book I got? Somebody must be in the same position as me.

Best

Alex
Collins

• Dustwrapper looks fantastic and as mentioned elsewhere, the appearance is similar to the jackets on ediitons such as Moths (#90) to Northumberland (#95).   It states on the reverse that it is a POD copy and carries a £50 price tag on the inside flap, so is unlikely to be confused with the original
• Print quality of text looks OK but ...
• Some of the B&W photographs are poor.  I do not have an original copy so it's possible that this was true of the original illustrations.  Some of the worst are on pages 57, 69, 152 and 400 where it's difficult to discern any detail in the photographs whereas others, such as those on pp.337, 356 and 386 are far better, so I wonder whether it's down to quality of originals or inconsitent reproduction.  In addition, some have a moire type pattern (pp.307 and 328), which I suspect has been introduced during scanning of the originals.
• Colour plates look bright and vibrant - again, cannot compare to the originals but they look good to me.
• Paper quality - another forum member suggested that Collins have used a lower weight paper; that may be true, but I didn't notice it.   However, and more important to me, the paper has a distictive cream-yellow hue, similar to that used in many paperbacks and that is disappointing - it certainly doesn't help the clarity of the B&W photographs.   I appreciate that costs need to be constrained but I doubt that a brilliant-white paper of similar weight would add much, if anything, to the cost of roduction
• Binding is glued and spine is flat, rather than rounded - but that was to be expected.   There is no printing on the spine, but I doubt I would even have looked unless it had been mentioned in another post.   To me it's not important, as this book will sit on the shelf with it's dustwrapper.
• Book was wrapped in paper inside the outer, card packaging, which was a nice touch - at least prevents the dustwrapper getting scuffed during transit.

Just a couple of minor packaging issues:

• The card packaging was pretty flimsy and my copy has taken a minor knock in the mail - not somehting that causes me too much concern, but could have been avoided
• The laminated dustwrapper appears to be inclined to curl and as a result, the inside flap to the dustwrapper has been badly creased before shipment.   Again, not a major issue but one that could be avoided.

Overall, as a naturalist (first) and a collector (second), it's wonderful to be able to add the missing titles at a sensible price in a format that sits comfortably alongside my existing collection on the bookshelf (besides the original paperback edition would have probably cost 3 or 4 times the price of the POD!).   Will I buy anymore - almost certainly ... my order for Orkney, Wild & Garden Plants, British Warblers and Ladybirds will be entered soon, unless someone has copies of the originals that they need to find a home for!   Well done Collins!

Bill

Received it today, thanks!

Brian