ATTENBOROUGH, David. Life on Air: Memoirs of a Broadcaster (Signed by Sir David Attenborough on the title-page)

London: BBC Books, 2009. 8vo. pp. 416. Original brown cloth, spine lettered in gilt, in the publisher’s pictorial dust jacket. A fine copy. Signed by Sir David Attenborough on the title-page.

Sir David Attenborough’s celebrated autobiography, first published in 2002 and here extensively revised and updated to include his later broadcasting career, including the landmark series Life in the Undergrowth and Life in Cold Blood. Written with characteristic warmth and humility, the memoir traces his remarkable journey from joining the BBC as a trainee producer in 1952 to becoming one of the world’s most respected natural historians and broadcasters. Along the way he recounts the making of the pioneering Zoo Quest expeditions, his tenure as Controller of BBC2 during the introduction of colour television, and his return to programme-making, producing the acclaimed Life series that transformed natural history broadcasting. The signed revised edition is increasingly sought after, particularly as opportunities to obtain Attenborough’s autograph have become exceptionally limited in recent years.

[L3 6D]