NYSL: Simon Winchester on "Skulls: An Exploration of Alan Dudley's Curious Collection"

http://www.nysoclib.org/notes/2012/sk...

Skulls is a spellbinding exploration of more than 300 different animal skulls- amphibians, birds, fish, mammals, and reptiles - written by New York Times bestselling author Simon Winchester.

Winchester tells the rich and fascinating story of skulls, both human and animal, from every perspective imaginable: historical, biographical, cultural, and iconographic. Presenting details about the parts of the skull (including the cranium, the mandible, the shape and positioning of the eye sockets, and species-specific features like horns, teeth, beaks, and bills), information about the science and pseudoscience of skulls, and a look at skulls in religion, art, and popular culture, his stories and information are riveting and enlightening.

At the center of Skulls is a never-before-seen visual array of the skulls of more than 300 animals that walk, swim, and fly. The skulls are from the collection of Alan Dudley, a British collector and owner of what is probably the largest and most complete private collection of skulls in the world. In this event, Winchester will use slides to present and describe these stunning images.

Simon Winchester is the bestselling author of The Professor and the Madman, The Map that Changed the World, Krakatoa, A Crack in the Edge of the World and more than a dozen other books. His work has appeared in Conde Nast Traveler, Smithsonian, National Geographic and elsewhere. Winchester was made Officer of the Order of British Empire (OBE) by HM The Queen in 2006.