{{Short description|Series of pocket-sized books}} {{Infobox book series | name = Golden Guide | image = Goldenguides.jpg | image_caption = Early Golden Guides, published from 1949 to 1955. | books = | author = | editors = [[Herbert Zim]], Vera Webster | title_orig = Golden Nature Guides | translator = | illustrator = [[James Gordon Irving]] | cover_artist = | country = United States | language = English | discipline = <!-- or |genre= --> | publisher = [[Western Publishing]]<br />[[Golden Press]]<br />[[St. Martin's Press]] (2001–present) | pub_date = 1949–2002 | english_pub_date = | media_type = [[Paperback|Pocket book]] | number_of_books = 84 | list_books = | oclc = | preceded by = | followed by = [[Golden Field Guide]] | website = [http://us.macmillan.com/series/AGoldenGuidefromStMartinsPress Official website] }} The '''Golden Guides''', originally '''Golden Nature Guides''', were a series of 160-page, pocket-sized books created by [[Western Publishing]] and published under their "Golden Press" line (primarily a children's book imprint) from 1949. Edited by [[Herbert S. Zim]] and Vera Webster, the books were written by experts in their field and featuring realistic color illustrations.
Intended for primary and secondary school level readers, the first books were [[field guide]]s illustrated by [[James Gordon Irving]], with such titles as ''Birds'' (1949), ''Insects'' (1951), and ''Mammals'' (1955). The series later expanded beyond identification guides to cover a wider range of subjects, such as ''Geology'' (1972), ''Scuba Diving'' (1968)'','' and ''Indian Arts'' (1970).
In 1966, Zim launched a related series, the [[Golden Field Guide]]s, aimed at high school or college-age readers.
An updated series was relaunched in 2001 as "Golden Guides by [[St. Martin's Press]]", illustrated largely with photographs but retaining some of the original 1950s illustrations.<ref>{{Cite journal|url = http://uppercasemagazine.com/issue15|title = The Golden Nature of James Gordon Irving|last = Fandrich|first = Leslie|date = Fall 2012|journal = Uppercase|issue = 15|pages = 46–50|archive-date = 2019-08-21|access-date = 2016-01-04|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190821070352/https://www.uppercasemagazine.com/issue15|url-status = dead}}</ref>
==List of Golden Guides==
{|class="wikitable sortable" ! Title || Author(s) || Date Published |- | ''Acadia National Park'' || Grant Sharpe || 1968 |- | ''American Antique Glass'' || Elizabeth Oliver || 1977 |- | ''Antiques'' || Ann Cole || 1967 |- | ''Architecture'' || Charles Rambert || 1969 |- | ''Bats of the World'' || Gary Graham || 1994 |- | ''Bicycling'' || George Fichter & Keith Kingbay || 1972 |- | ''Bird Life'' || Stephen Kress || 1991 |- | ''Birds'' || Herbert Zim & Ira Gabrielson || 1949 |- | ''Birds of Europe'' || [[Bertel Bruun]] || 1967 |- | ''Botany'' || Taylor Alexander, R. Will Burnett, Zim || 1970 |- | ''Butterflies and Moths'' || Robert Mitchell & Herbert Zim || 1962 |- | ''Cacti'' || Frank Venning || 1974 |- | ''Camping'' || Robert Smallman || 1965 |- | ''Casino Games'' || [[Bill Friedman]] || 1973 |- | ''Cats'' || George Fichter || 1973 |- | ''Dinosaurs'' || [[Eugene S. Gaffney|Eugene Gaffney]] || 1990 |- | ''Ecology'' || Taylor Alexander & George Fichter || 1973 |- | ''Endangered Animals'' || George Fichter || 1995 |- | ''Everglades National Park'' ||Herbert Zim || 1960 |- | ''Evolution'' || Frank T. Rhodes || 1974 |- | ''Exotic Plants'' || Julia Morton || 1971 |- | ''Exploring Space'' || Mark Chartrand || 1991 |- | ''Families of Birds'' || Oliver Austin || 1971 |- | ''Fishes'' || Herbert Zim & Hurst Shoemaker || 1955 |- | ''Fishing'' || George Fichter & Phil Francis || 1965 |- | ''Flowers'' || Herbert Zim & Alexander Martin || 1950 |- | ''Flying'' ||[[Barry Schiff]] || 1971 |- | ''Fossils'' || Frank Rhodes, H. Zim & Paul Shaffer || 1962 |- | ''Gamebirds'' || Alexander Sprunt & Herbert Zim || 1961 |- | ''Geology'' || Frank Rhodes || 1972 |- | ''Guns'' || Larry Koller || 1961 |- | ''Hallucinogenic Plants'' || [[Richard Schultes]] || 1976 |- | ''Heart'' || Sarah Riedman || 1974 |- | ''Herbs and Spices'' || Julia Morton || 1976 |- | ''Horses'' || Moira Duggan || 1972 |- | ''Indian Arts'' || Andrew Whiteford || 1970 |- | ''Insect Pests'' || George Fichter || 1966 |- | ''Insects'' || Herbert Zim & [[Clarence Cottam]] || 1951 |- | ''Israel and the Holy Land'' ||Rinna Samuel || 1967 |- | ''Italy'' || Paul Friedlander & Joseph Brooks || 1955 |- | ''Kites'' || Wyatt Brummit || 1971 |- | ''Landforms'' || George Adams & Jerome Wyckoff || 1971 |- | ''Light and Color'' || Clarence Rainwater || 1971 |- | ''Mammals'' || Herbert Zim & Donald Hoffmeister || 1955 |- | ''Mexico'' || Herbert Zim || 1969 |- | ''Modern Painting'' || Michel Hoog || 1970 |- | ''Non-Flowering Plants'' || Floyd Shuttleworth & Herbert Zim || 1967 |- | ''Oceanography'' || Gilbert Voss || 1972 |- | ''Orchids'' || Shuttleworth, Zim & Gordon Dillon || 1970 |- | ''Pacific Northwest'' || Herbert Zim & Natt Dodge || 1959 |- | ''Painting - From Its Origins'' || Genevieve Monnier || 1969 |- | ''Painting, Gasser's Guide to'' || Henry Gasser || 1964 |- | ''Photography'' || Herbert Zim & R. Will Burnett || 1956 |- | ''Planets'' || Mark Chartrand || 1990 |- | ''Pond Life'' || George Reid || 1967 |- | ''Power Boats'' || Bill Wallace || 1961 |- | ''Reptiles and Amphibians'' || Herbert Zim & [[Hobart Muir Smith|Hobart Smith]] || 1953 |- | ''Rocks and Minerals'' || Herbert Zim & Paul Shaffer || 1957 |- | ''Rocky Mountains'' || Herbert Zim || 1964 |- | ''Sailing'' || Bill Wallace || 1960 |- | ''Scuba Diving'' || Wheeler North || 1968 |- | ''Sculpture, An Introduction to'' || Guillaume Janneau & Simone Hoog || 1970 |- | ''Seashells of the World'' || [[R. Tucker Abbott]] || 1962 |- | ''Seashores'' || Herbert Zim & Lester Ingle || 1955 |- | ''Ski'' || Bill Wallace & Bob Beattie || 1966 |- | ''Sky Observer's Guide'' || R. Newton, M. Mayall & Jerome Wyckoff || 1965 |- | ''Snakes'' || Sarah Whittley || 2002 |- | ''Southeast, The American'' || Herbert Zim || 1960 |- | ''Southwest, The American'' || Natt Dodge & Herbert Zim || 1959 |- | ''Spiders & Their Kin'' || [[Herbert Levi]] & Lorna Levi || 1968 |- | ''Sports Cars'' || Mortarini, Leopold & Waterfall || 1968 |- | ''Stars'' || Herbert Zim & Robert Baker || 1951 |- | ''Trees'' || Herbert Zim & A. Martin || 1952 |- | ''Tropical Fish'' || Bruce Halstead & Bonnie Landa || 1975 |- | ''Venomous Animals'' || Edmund Brodie, Jr. || 1989 |- | ''Washington D.C.'' || Robert Smallman || 1964 |- | ''Weather'' || Paul Lehr, R. Will Burnett & Herbert Zim || 1957 |- | ''Weeds'' || Alexander Martin || 1972 |- | ''Whales and Other Marine Mammals'' || George Fichter || 1990 |- | ''Wines'' || [[Henri Fluchère]] || 1973 |- | ''Yosemite'' || Douglass Hubbard || 1970 |- | ''Zoo Animals'' || Donald Hoffmeister || 1967 |- | ''Zoology'' || Will Burnett, Herbert Zim, & Harvey Fisher || 1958 |}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [http://us.macmillan.com/series/AGoldenGuidefromStMartinsPress Golden Guide from St. Martin's Press] - Current list of Golden Guides * List of the [http://www.vintagepbks.com/gg-list.html original Golden Guide titles with links to cover images]
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[[Category:Golden Books books]] [[Category:Science books]] [[Category:Book series]] [[Category:Publications established in 1949]] [[Category:Western Publishing]]