Eyelids of Morning The Mingled Destinies of Crocodiles and Men by Graham, Alistair & Peter Beard - 1973

EB: New York Graphic Society. Very Good in Very Good dust jacket. 1973. First Edition; First Printing. Hardcover. Hardcover. 4to. New York Graphic Society, Ltd, Greenwich, CT. 1973. 260 pgs. Illustrated with Color / Black and White Plates. First Edition/First Printing. DJ has light chipping, shelf-wear and rubbing present to the DJ especially around the extremities. Bound in cloth boards with titles present to the spine. Boards have light shelf-wear present to the extremities. No ownership marks present. Text is clean and free of marks. Binding tight and solid. Originally published in 1973 and long out of print, this is Graham's account of his expedition to Lake Rudolf in Kenya to study the remaining Nile crocodile population there. The author, a conservation consultant, has a peculiarly ambiguous attitude: although he opposes the traditional view of crocodiles as contemptible, he rails against the sentimentality of conservationists who "cherish a fantasy of communion with a mysterious nature." But Graham offers an impressive narrative of the arduous task of hunting down crocs for ecological analysis, of their feeding habits, and of the effects of overcrowding. He imparts a wealth of information about the mythology of crocodiles (such as the tale of the Egyptian city of Crocodilopolis) , their evolution, habitat and diet. We also learn much about the Turkana, natives who inhabit the west side of Lake Rudolf. Many of Beard's more than 200 photographs depict an entrancing beauty, but others unnecessarily unsettle the reader with images of piles of crocodiles that have been skinned, dissected for scientific observation and cast aside. EB; 4to 11" - 13" tall; 260 pages .