TRILOBITEN WELTWEIT
TRILOBITES WORLDWIDE

"THE WORLD OF TRILOBITES AND
THEIR REFILECTION IN PHILATELY"

H.-U. Ernst & F. Rudolph

Hard cover, 118 pages
Price: Euro: 32.00, US$ 41.70
Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil, Munich
www.pfeil-verlag.de

CHRISTIAN GRONAU Cortes Island, B.C. When Robert M. Owens counted 10 postage stamps featuring images of trilobites for The Trilobite Papers 3 in 1991, he expressed hope that more stamps on this theme might be issued in the future. His wish has come true, the total number of trilobitic stamps, eleven years later, is 48, and in the summer of 2002 a slim bilingual volume devoted to this theme was published by a small Munich outfit. And Robert got to write the foreword.

The book's title might be considered a bit over-ambitious, its subtitle is more to the point. Trilobites and philately, like Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is not an immediately obvious combination. Unlike the latter book, which is neither about Zen nor about motorcycles, this particular hybrid actually deals with the subject matters suggested by its title. Stamp renditions with varying degrees of accuracy and/or artistic merit are juxtaposed with photographs of actual trilobite specimens of appropriate identity. Readers of The Trilobite Papers will probably not find a great deal of new information on the favourite arthropods – even though the first chapter "What is a trilobite?" offers a very readable, concise and surprisingly comprehensive answer to the question it poses. (The German heading for this chapter is "Was ist denn bitte ein Trilobit?", and for readers familiar with the language, this is an early example of many entertaining comparisons, inadvertently offered by the double-column, bilingual format of the book. The German heading translates into a wordy, polite and strangely tentative "What then, please, is a trilobite?")

All philatelists should read this book. They will definitely learn a lot about trilobites. By contrast, trilobitologists won't learn very much about philately in this book -- except, perhaps stamp-art is an imprecise art-form. They'll enjoy looking at the various and varied representations of their beloved bugs and maybe have some fun joining the authors in the detective work frequently needed to decide which trilobite species a stamp is aiming to depict.

Some countries have released outstanding trilobite stamps. The Czech Republic: for instance, as well as. its former incarnation Czechoslovakia, has issued a number of superbly detailed and accurate stamps. By contrast, look at the cartoonish Olenoides? swimming in the company of Marrella, Yohoia? and Odaraia? of Burgess Shale fame, over a substrate layer filled with Isotelus- and Odontopleura-like fossils (!) on a stamp issued by the postal authority of Niuafo'ou, an island in the Tonga group. Or at the depiction on a Somali stamp of an olenellid trilobite. On first glance, very reminiscent of Wanneria, though falling short of the 17 segments typical for that genus (probably a concession by the graphic artist to the difficulties of rendering the ever diminishing terminal segments) The authors chose a photograph of Olenellus (Paedeumias) chiefensis Palmer, 1998 as the counterpart to the stamp's image. This was a poor choice for several reasons. Even though it belongs with Wanneria in the Olenellidae: the chiefensis morphology is very different ideed – the prominent macropleural third thoracic segment being the most obvious case in point. The two Gestalten simpiy don't relate. Also, the fossil depicted is not particularly well preserved (certainly when compared to other specimens coming from the same locality Ruin Wash in Nevada).

This brings us to what might be the greatest weakness of the book -- the choice of trilobite specimens to clarify and flesh out what the stamp iconography is often only hinting at. Most images are supplied by the two authors themselves, indeed, they may have found a clever way to show off a portion of their private trilobite collection under the hybrid title of this book. Good for them! Some examples are spectacular and interest pieces – others are not. Images of better and more appropriate specimens could have been obtained elsewhere. Some sources, particularly the Naturkundemuseum in Berlin, Germany, cooperated laudably. Other repositories of quality image material: including Canadian institutions of high repute, proved mired in bureaucratic and fiscal morass to such a degree as to be utterly useless.

All in all, the book is an enjoyable romp for two-track minds a good first introduction to trilobites ; an eye-pleasing collection of high quality colour images ; and a must-have, maybe, for hard core trilobite fans only. Check out the publisher's website for more details and other titles.