Hunters of the African Sky - Peter Steyn and Graeme Arnott
Hunters of the African Sky (Premium First Edition Copy)
A Masterful, Lavishly Illustrated Celebration of the Magnificence and Variety of African Birds of Prey
A Masterful, Lavishly Illustrated Celebration of the Magnificence and Variety of African Birds of Prey
Bibliographic Specifications
- Title: Hunters of the African Sky
- Author: Peter Steyn
- Illustrator: Graeme Arnott
- Publisher: Struik Winchester, Cape Town
- Publication Date: 1990
- ISBN-10: 0947430172
- ISBN-13: 9780947430177
- Edition Details: First Edition, First Impression. Standard Hardcover Issue.
- Binding: Publisher's original deluxe dark cloth boards, elegantly stamped with a bright gold flying bird emblem on the front cover and finished with crisp gold lettering on the spine.
- Physical Format: Large, Heavy Folio/Quarto (4to), 96 pages. Extensively illustrated with breath-taking, full-page colour plate reproductions of paintings by Graeme Arnott, complemented by delicate text sketches, anatomical outlines, and field observations.
- Language: English
Official Condition Report
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The Book: As New (AN / Fine)
- Exterior / Boards: The original cloth boards are in flawless, pristine condition, remaining perfectly flat, square, and completely unblemished. The gold-stamped flying bird emblem on the face and the spine gilt are exceptionally bright, deep, and reflective. The corners are sharp, and the spine remains rigid, uncreased, and perfect.
- Interior: The text block is tight, crisp, and square, appearing entirely unread. The heavy-gauge internal pages, monochromatic sketches, and brilliant colour plate sections are clean, snow-white, and immaculate. Completely free of foxing, thumb marks, owner names, dealer pencil marks, or highlighting.
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The Dust Jacket: Near Fine (NF) / As New
- Exterior: Present and beautifully preserved inside a premium archival Brodart protective sleeve. The jacket retains its high-gloss sheen and vivid colouration, exhibiting only very, very slight, microscopic signs of handling along the extreme edges. Free from chipping, tattered tears, or sun fading.
Synopsis & Historical Value
Published in 1990 by the prestigious Struik Winchester imprint—famed for producing South Africa’s finest limited and high-tier ornithological volumes—Hunters of the African Sky is a monumental triumph of African natural history. The book serves as a breathtaking celebration in picture and word of the sheer majesty, diversity, and biological complexity of Africa's predatory birds, spanning eagles, hawks, falcons, harriers, and owls.
Published in 1990 by the prestigious Struik Winchester imprint—famed for producing South Africa’s finest limited and high-tier ornithological volumes—Hunters of the African Sky is a monumental triumph of African natural history. The book serves as a breathtaking celebration in picture and word of the sheer majesty, diversity, and biological complexity of Africa's predatory birds, spanning eagles, hawks, falcons, harriers, and owls.
Author Peter Steyn incorporates a wealth of field data, nesting observations, and behavioral insights gathered over decades in the African veld. Rather than relying on static technical descriptions, the text reads as an elegant narrative that matches the immense visual scale of Graeme Arnott's magnificent artwork. Arnott's full-page colour plates capture these birds in dynamic motion—soaring through high thermals, diving for prey, or guarding their nests—with extraordinary feather-by-feather anatomical precision. Highly valued for its superb production quality, heavy art-grade paper, and exceptional aesthetic layout, this scarce, out-of-print title stands as an elite investment piece for collectors of fine Africana, art lovers, and professional ornithologists alike.
Author Profile: Peter Steyn and Graeme Arnott
Peter Steyn is one of the most famous and highly respected figures in African ornithology and wildlife photography. Over a career spanning more than half a century, Steyn has authored several foundational textbooks, including Birds of Prey of Southern Africa and A Delight of Owls, securing a global reputation for his pioneering research into raptor breeding cycles. Graeme Arnott (1939–2022) was an internationally acclaimed South African wildlife artist and illustrator whose breathtaking paintings earned him a place among the world's finest avian portraitists. Renowned for his meticulous fieldwork and brilliant use of light, Arnott’s artwork has graced premier international exhibitions and definitive field references. Together, Steyn’s peerless field scholarship and Arnott’s mastery of the brush created a timeless visual symphony that remains a gold standard in natural history publishing.
Peter Steyn is one of the most famous and highly respected figures in African ornithology and wildlife photography. Over a career spanning more than half a century, Steyn has authored several foundational textbooks, including Birds of Prey of Southern Africa and A Delight of Owls, securing a global reputation for his pioneering research into raptor breeding cycles. Graeme Arnott (1939–2022) was an internationally acclaimed South African wildlife artist and illustrator whose breathtaking paintings earned him a place among the world's finest avian portraitists. Renowned for his meticulous fieldwork and brilliant use of light, Arnott’s artwork has graced premier international exhibitions and definitive field references. Together, Steyn’s peerless field scholarship and Arnott’s mastery of the brush created a timeless visual symphony that remains a gold standard in natural history publishing.
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