Hardcover. NY, D. Van Nostrand, 1st, 1949, Book: Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, green cloth covers with gilt lettering, 285 pages. Gertsch, who was a curator at the American Museum of Natural History, was the key authority of his day on spiders and identified over 1,000 spiders and close allies, including the brown recluse. This book is part of the New Illustrated Naturalist series curated by William Beebe, Robert Cushman Murphy, and Fairfield Osborn. Illustrated with color and b&w photos of spiders. Gutter cracked at title page, name stamp on front fly leaf, otherwise clean.