Fishes of the Rio Negro

[Silurus]

From the NHM website:
"Between 1850 and 1852, the British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace, known later for having proposed the theory of evolution of species by natural selection, together with Charles Darwin, went up the Rio Negro and the Rio Uaupés to regions never before visited. There he collected a large number of animals, plants, and articles of native workmanship. A fire in the ship that was taking Wallace back to England destroyed all the collections he had made. Among the few salvaged items was a collection of 212 fish drawings and notes made by Wallace himself. The totality of these illustrations and notes is reproduced here for the first time. The fidelity with which the fishes were depicted, expressed in richness and accuracy of details, give an idea of the dimension of the loss implied by the destruction of the collections."
The book is bilingual (English/Portuguese) and available from Livraria Cultura.