Collector's Guide to The National Geographic Magazine

Wilmington, DE: Edwin C. Buxbaum, 1962. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Hardcover. Very good. 327, [7] pages. Illustrations (some in color). Cover has slight wear and soiling. Minor edge soiling. Some pencil underlining and marks noted. Bookplate of Volkmar Wentzel with home address inside front cover. Typed note (not signed) from Mr. L. J. Grant to Kurt Wentzel taped to inside front board (covering bookplate). Newspaper clipping taped to fep. Includes chapters on Ephererae, Topical Indexes, Maps, Pictorial Supplements, Advertisements, Book Publications, The Robert Conahay Collection, Expeditions, Census of Complete Sets, Record Chart, and Index to the Geographic, 19801898. Mr. Buxbaum passed away in June 1989. His collector's guide book of 1971 was his last edition. Mr. (Dr.) Buxbaum was mentioned twice in the NGM: Gilbert M. Grosvenor's President's page in March 1989 spoke of Nat Geo collector's, in January 1990 announcing his death, in the GEOGRAPHICA section. This well-written and well-researched guide to collecting National Geographics is a treasure trove of information. Collecting is particularly difficult for the first 70 years of the magazine (1888-1958) and Buxbaum covers this period in depth. Volkmar Kurt Wentzel (February 8, 1915 - May 10, 2006) was a German American photographer and cinematographer. He worked for nearly 50 years for the National Geographic Society as a darkroom technician and photographer, and his professional and personal work was highly acclaimed. He was one of the first people to take photographs of Nepal, and documented the final years of many of the traditional tribal kingdoms of Africa. Wentzel was the photographer for 35 stories in National Geographic, and photograph and author for another 10. Wentzel left the magazine in WWII and enlisted in the Army Air Corps, where he was assigned photo interpretation duties.