Legacy of the Cat

by Michael
(London)

Legacy of the Cat is probably the best book on the planet about the cat breeds. How can I make such a confident statement? Firstly it is visually stunning. It has been illustrated by Tetsu Yamazaki, a Japanese cat photographer living in Japan. He signs his photographs “Tetsu” in gold ink. For me he is the next best cat photographer in the world after Helmi Flick. Helmi’s work illustrates this website.

The book uses Tetsu’s photographs heavily and so it should. The photographs are, of course, right out of the top draw. There is no better way to describe the cat breeds than through fine photography. All the cats are photographed against a white background with quite a soft and simple lighting. This is elegant photography and well suited to book publication as the text can be wrapped around the photographs.

The text is written by Gloria Stephens. Gloria simply knows her stuff based on long experience in the cat fancy as a judge, administrator and instructor. Gloria Stephens also knows cat genetics. This is where the layout and design comes into its own. Genetics are very complicated but through excellent design and illustration they become understandable – just!

It is quite a compact book, about A4 size in UK paper size terms. I use the book as a main reference work in addition to other books that I will be reviewing later. I highly recommend Legacy of the Cat. Note: the title on the book is in lower case, hence the title to this review is also in lower case.

The ISBN number is ISBN 0-8118-2910-3

From Legacy of the Cat to Home Page


Note: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified.

Michael Broad

Hi, I'm a 74-year-old retired solicitor (attorney in the US). Before qualifying I worked in many jobs including professional photography. I love nature, cats and all animals. I am concerned about their welfare. If you want to read more click here.

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2 Responses

  1. Edinalva says:

    I agree partially with what you said here, thanks for the info.

  1. December 31, 2012

    […] source is Legacy of the Cat by Gloria Stephens and Tetsu Yamazaki. This source points to a cat breed’s potential for being a good lap cat. The book rarely says […]

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