Dragon Lizards of Komodo: An Expedition to the Lost World of the Dutch East Indies

Title: Dragon Lizards of Komodo: An Expedition to the Lost World of the Dutch East Indies

Author: Burden, W. Douglas

Publication: New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1927.

Description: Account of American naturalist William Burden's 1926 expedition to the Island of Komodo in the Dutch East Indies to study Komodo dragons (Varanus komodoensis). First edition. 54 black-and-white photo illustrations. Bound in publisher's full red cloth with gilt lettering and pictorial endpapers. Lacking dust jacket. 9 x 6.25 inches; xii, 221, [1] pages, [48] pages of plates. A touch of edgewear to the binding, light toning and foxing to the endleaves, and the frontispiece detached but present. Very Good. A clean, collectible copy.

William Douglas Burden (1898–1978) led expeditions to various tropical islands and the Arctic. He was best known for his expedition to Komodo, which he undertook with his first wife, Catherine White Burden, who is also featured in this book. The Burden party captured three Komodo dragons using traps baited with buffalo meat. The giant lizards measured about 10 feet long, weighed around 350 pounds, and devoured an entire buffalo in one sitting. Burden was a member of the Boone and Crockett Club of New York City, and this book was approved by their editorial committee.