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Owls in art, literature, folklore, myth, etc.

The books are listed by publication date with the most recent at the top.

Owl pages

Owls of GB
Owls of the world

Owls: Our Most Enchanting Bird

Matt Sewell

2014

"In this beautiful follow-up to Our Garden Birds, Our Songbirds and Our Woodland Birds, street artist Matt Sewell captures the world’s most evocative bird: the owl. In his much-loved pop-art watercolours and accompanied with his whimsical descriptions, Matt Sewell expresses the individual characters of owls as never before. .... With 50 hand-selected, hand-painted owls, this is a delightful gift which appeals to owl lovers, bird-watching enthusiasts, children, adults and art and design fans alike."

Owl

Desmond Morris

Reaktion Books

2009

216 pages, 91 colour illustrations, 32 other illustrations

"From ancient Babylon, to Edward Lear's The Owl and the Pussycat and the grandiloquent, absent-minded Wol from Winnie the Pooh, to David Lynch's Twin Peaks, owls have woven themselves into the fabric of human culture from earliest times. Beautiful, silent, pitiless predators of the night, possessing contradictory qualities of good and evil, they are enigmatic creatures that dwell throughout the world yet barely make their presence known. In his fascinating new book Owl bestselling author and broadcaster Desmond Morris explores the natural and cultural history of one of nature's most popular creatures. Morris describes the evolution, the many species, and the wide spread of owls around the world - excluding Antarctica, owls are found on every land mass, ranging in size from 28 centimeters (the Least Pygmy Owl) to more than 70 centimeters tall (the Eurasian Eagle Owl). As a result of their wide distribution, owls also occur in the folk-tales, myths and legends of many native peoples, and Morris explores all these, as well as the many examples of owls in art, film, literature and popular culture."

Illustrated Owl: Barn, Barred & Great Horned, The: Barn, Barred and Great Horned: The Ultimate Reference Guide for Bird Lovers, Artists, and Woodcarvers

Denny Rogers

2008

"The ultimate reference guide for bird lovers or artists, this final volume in the Denny Rogers Visual Reference Series presents 200 meticulous and anatomically accurate drawings that capture each magnificent owl from every angle and in multiple poses. Along with comprehensive drawings, youll find colour charts and photographs - both in-flight and still - to help recreate these formidable night-time hunters down to the stripes, speckles and streaks of their feathers. Also included are scale-charts for matching your desired dimensions without sacrificing proportion."

Owls: An Artist's Guide to Understanding Owls

Floyd Scholz

2001

"The most complete collection of visual reference material on North American owls including over 700 stunning photographs of 16 species of owls. Physical features offer insight into hunting, feeding, flying, and communication. Renowned carver Floyd Scholz presents the much anticipated follow-up to his best-selling 'Birds of Prey'. In this new book, hundreds of stunning full-colour photographs and useful line drawings offer detailed studies of 16 species of owls-from the tiny Elf Owl to the impressive Great Horned Owl. All are illustrated in full detail, with focus on body and wing design, plumage patterns, flight characteristics, and predatory behaviour. Also includes a section on carving and painting techniques and a gallery of Floyd Scholz's finished carvings."

A Wisdom of Owls: The History and Mythology, Fact and Fiction, Science and Superstition of Owls Around the World

Philip Knowling

1998

"This extraordinary work is a compendium of all things owlish: traditional stories from around the world, amazing facts from science and history and beliefs from different lands and cultures. Discover owl people, owl words, owl quotes and the owl's place in folklore, religion...and even cookery."

Includes linocuts by Elizabeth Rashley and Sarah Lawrence and a preface by Chris Packham. Published in a numbered limited edition of 500 copies, signed by artists and writer, in a specially designed binding.

Australian Owls, Frogmouths and Nightjars

Jill Morris & Lynne Tracey

1993/2003

"A stunning collection of portraits of Australia's night birds. Each one features a detailed report, a distribution map, a poem, and a painting in gouache of the bird against the background of its natural habitat and the food it eats."

Owls

John Gould, Edward Lear, Archibald Thorburn, John James Audubon and Alexander Wilson

1991

A selection of illustrations of owls by five of the most famous bird artists from the archive of the Natural History Museum in London. The artists represented are John Gould, Edward Lear, Alexander Wilson, John James Audubon and Archibald Thorburn.

Owls: Art, Legend, History

Elena Cenzato and Fabio Santopietro

1990

A collection of images, myths and stories of owls from ancient to modern times.

The Owl in Art, Myth and Legend

Krystyna Weinstein

1988

A collection of stories, illustrations and quotes from around the world that reflect the human perception of owls through the centuries.

Owls in Folklore and Natural History

Virginia Holmgren

1988

Owls: An Introduction For The Amateur Ornithologist

Gordon Dee Alcorn

1986

A introduction to the biology and natural history of owls. Includes accounts of all the owls of North America. Also includes sections on the role of the owl in many myths.

The Owl Papers

Jonathan Evan Maslow

E P Dutton

1983

"The beautiful and the ugly, the are and the common; Barn Owl, Snowy Owl, even the Great Horned Owl, the largest and fiercest of the American species; from a deserted park within view of the Empire State Building to Lake Waramaug during a total lunar eclipse, Jonathan Evan Maslow pursues the nightbird in its favourite haunts throughout the seasons, and examines the owl as an idea in science, history, myth and art."

The Magic of Owls

Jozefa Stuart and Angus Cameron

1977

A survey of the use of owls in arts and crafts over the centuries.