Back in 2013 when I first opened a copy of Katrina van Grouw‘s then newly published The Unfeathered Bird, I was astonished by what I beheld. Never before had I seen any artist put such superb artistic detail into not only the physical structure of anatomical illustrations but into the manner in which they were depicted. Here were images of birds I knew well shown to me in a way I could never have otherwise seen them. This, truly, was natural history illustration at its finest.
Now, with the recent publication of Ms. van Grouw’s Unnatural Selection, she turns that same extraordinary talent for illustration and interpretation toward domesticated animals. Intended as a 150th anniversary celebration of Darwin’s The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication, Unnatural Selection examines the principles of evolution as they can be observed in the changes wrought upon domestic animals, and then by extension – just as Darwin himself did – shows how these same principles apply to all animals.
Unnatural Selection is just beginning to ship to both booksellers as well as to reviewers, so look for much more about it to be written here as well as copies to be appearing in a book shop near you very soon.
