Library sales and loans

• Journal of Bryology
• Field Bryology
• Check-list and Census Catalogue of British and Irish bryophytes
  • other Census Catalogues
• English names for British Bryophytes
  • other BBS Special volumes
• Other printed items
• Other library sales
• Microscopes
• Items for loan

The BBS Librarian is also the custodian of the BBS Library, which contains approximately 850 bryological books and journals and several thousand offprints of individual papers. These are available to BBS members for loan or photocopying.

How to Order:

PLEASE DO NOT INCLUDE PAYMENT WITH ORDERS. Customers will be invoiced for the correct amount including postage and packing. A legibly printed address label would be appreciated. All the above are available from the BBS Librarian: Kenneth J. Adams, School of Health & Biosciences, University of East London, Stratford Campus, Romford Road, London, E15 4LZ, or email on ken.adams@virgin.net.

Check-list and Census Catalogue of British and Irish bryophytes

by T.L. Blockeel and D.G. Long

British Bryological Society. Paperback, laminated covers. 208 pages.

This is a new and updated edition of Corley & Hill’s The Distribution of Bryophytes in the British Isles, providing a complete Check-list of British and Irish mosses and liverworts. The nomenclature has been updated to reflect recent taxonomic research, and the list is accompanied by explanatory annotations and literature references.

The book is also a Census Catalogue giving the distribution by vice-county of all British and Irish taxa. It incorporates the many additions and amendments which have accumulated in the 17 years since the publication of the previous edition. Much work has also been done to remove incompatibilities with the maps published in the Atlas of the Bryophytes of Britain and Ireland.

Price: £7.50. Postage & handling: - will be included in the invoice (approx. UK £1.00, Europe £1.75, outside Europe £3.50)

Note that the data contained in the Census Catalogue can also be downloaded.

English Names for British Bryophytes

by S R Edwards

BBS Special Volume No. 5. Cardiff: British Bryological Society
Published December 1997. ISBN 0 9507639 6 9; ISSN 0268-8034. A5, 68pages, limp covers.
Third edition published July 2003.

This is the first comprehensive catalogue of `Common Names' of bryophytes of Britain and Ireland, together with some English names for non-British taxa, compiled by Dr Sean Edwards of the Manchester Museum. The detailed historical review demonstrates the long history of some English names back to J.J. Dillenius in 1742, and some even to Gerard's Herball (1597). However, for many species, names have had to be newly coined, and this has been undertaken using defined guidelines and principles. For many taxa more than one published name was traced (it is remarkable how many English names actually appear in the literature: 4,865 distinct names with 7,680 references to them from 114 sources) and for these a `preferred name' is given in bold, followed by synonyms. This is a well-sourced and meticulously cross-referenced, scientific treatment of a `popular' subject which can only be very good for publicising and popularising bryophytes. The catalogue is indexed both by botanical name and English name. Some names will no doubt be familiar to bryologists, such as Bog-moss (Sphagnum), Ostrich-plume Feather- moss (Ptilium crista-castrensis) and Wall Screw-moss (Tortula muralis), but many will be unfamiliar and thought-provoking, such as Two-horned Pincerwort (Cephalozia bicuspidata), Thick-set Earwort (Scapania compacta), Mougeot's Yoke-moss (Amphidium mougeotii) and Potato Bryum (Bryum bornholmense). A very fine publication and well worth the modest cost.

The third edition (July 2003) has the following further nett changes from the second edition: British mosses: +8 taxa and +25 names; British liverworts: +2 taxa and +8 names; non-British mosses: +7 taxa and +8 names (moved from British list). In addition 64 nomenclatural updates have been made, largely in accordance with Tony Smith's 2nd edition (in press), and corresponding text adjustments etc. have been made throughout; the older familiar names are included in the list as synonyms.

Price: £3.50. Postage & handling: - will be included in the invoice

For update (November 2005) please click here

BBS Special Volumes:

1. Longton RE, Perry AR. 1985. Proceedings of Jubilee Meeting 1983, 89 pp., (£6.00)
2. Newton ME. 1989. A Practical Guide to Bryophyte Chromosomes, 19 pp. (£2.50)
3. O'Shea BJ. 1989. A Guide to Collecting Bryophytes in theTropics, 28 pp. (£3.50)
4. Edwards SR. 1992. Mosses in English Literature, 44pp. (£2.50)

Census Catalogues:

• Warburg EF. 1963. Census Catalogue of British Mosses, 3rd edition (£1.00)

Other printed items:

• Adams KJ. Microscope techniques for the bryologist. Part I. A Beginner's Guide. (£1.00)
• Evans DE, Perry AR., 1987. Moss Wall Chart. (£2.80)
• Grolle R, Long DG. 2000. An annotated checklist of the Hepaticae and Anthocertoae of Europe and Macaronesia. (£3.00)
• Newton ME et al., (eds) 1988. Bryology: modern research and the ways forward (£5.50)
• Pearman MA. 1979. A short German-English bryological glossary (£0.50)
• Perry AR. 1992. Mosses and liverworts of woodland, 41 pp. (£4.00)

Other Library Sales

BBS Microscopes

Microscopes for loan

Two new Chinese microscopes have been purchased by the BBS for loan to new members who wish to experience using a microscope for six months prior to making a purchase of their own. The funds to purchase these microscopes came from the sale of three antique brass microscopes left to the Society by the late Eustace Jones. They are basic easy-to-use monocular instruments requiring a small adjustable table lamp for operation, and have x40, x10 and x4 objectives together with a x10 eyepiece, a simple manual stage and sub-stage condenser, iris, and adjustable mirror.

Any new member wishing to borrow a microscope may collect one from the BBS librarian at a BBS meeting by prior arrangement (not by parcel or postal service). The loan must, however, be secured by an indemnity signed by the borrower agreeing to replace the microscope at its current replacement value if lost/stolen, or to pay the current cost of replacement of any parts damaged/lost either during the loan or in return transit.

Second-hand monocular microscopes

A small number of second-hand monocular microscopes are available for purchase from the BBS librarian on a first-come first-served basis.

Items for loan (UK members only)

Members wishing to borrow books or papers are advised to consider whether a photocopy of the appropriate pages would suffice instead of the original in those cases where copyright has expired. Charge 10p per exposure. Limit 50.

• A catalogue of the books and journals is available, price £2.00.
• Microscope stage-micrometer slide for calibration of eyepiece graticules. 10µm divisions. Loan deposit £45.00.