Dinosaurs Past and Present, vol 1 and 2, 1987
Edited by Sylvia J. Czerkas and Everett C. Olson

A two volume set with a number of nice vintage illustrations of dinosaurs (including a color reproduction of Rudolph Zallinger's
"The Age of Reptiles").  Unfortunately, most of the illustrations contained in these volumes are of dinosaurs "present" (circa early
to mid-1980's), rather than "past."  The books highlight the drastic changes in ideas regarding how the appearance and physiology
of the dinosaurs have changed over the past years.  I only wish that there was more information regarding the vintage dinosaur
illustrations.  So if you buy these books for information regarding the early paleoartists and their artwork, you may be disappointed.



A beautiful oil painting of Triceratops by Charles R. Knight.  The painting is part of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural
History collection.  The overly "chunky" Triceratops is depicted in a sedentary pose and would no longer be considered an accurate
restoration--but what the hell, this piece is beautiful.



A number of well known paleontologists and paleoartists contributed chapters to this set, including Robert Bakker, Mark Hallett,
Kevin Padian, John Horner, and others.   One chapter of note is titled, "A Reevaluation of the Plate Arrangement on Stegosaurus
stenops," by the paleoartist Stephen A. Czerkas.  I am not sure if Czerkas' ideas regarding the plate arrangement of S. stenops
are still considered valid, but his sequence of vintage illustrations of Stegosaurus showing how the reconstructions have changed
over the years is really interesting.  Above is a rarely reproduced reconstruction of Stegosaurus by George E. Roberts, published
in 1901.  According to Czerkas, this was the first illustration of a Stegosaurus showing two rows of alternating plates.

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