The California Field Atlas - by Obi Kaufmann

Book Synopsis

A new classic gets the deluxe treatment!

Following the success of Obi Kaufmann's bestselling The California Field Atlas, this Deluxe Edition features a larger format showcasing Kaufmann's sumptuous watercolors and lettering. In addition to its larger size, the Deluxe Edition has illustrated endpapers, a ribbon bookmark, premium paper, and gold embossing on a luxurious leather-like cover. This is a must-have for any book lover, or for fans of nature guides, atlases, and works that fuse science and art. Plus, with a limited print run and deluxe materials, this edition makes a stunning gift.

A winner of multiple awards, including the 2018 California Book Award (Notable Contribution to Publishing) and the NCIBA Book of the Year Award (Regional Interest), and a #1 San Francisco Chronicle bestseller, The California Field Atlas is unlike any other book. Artist-adventurer Obi Kaufmann takes readers beyond normal conceptions of California, blending science and art to illuminate the state's multifaceted array of living, connected systems. Kaufmann unveils layer after layer of the natural world, depicting its myriad ecologies, topographies, and histories in exquisite maps and trail paintings. The effect is staggeringly beautiful: a California made up of dancing tectonic plates, watersheds, and wildflower gardens. In addition to maps, this atlas offers spirited illustrations of wildlife, keys that explain natural phenomena, and a clear-sighted but reverential text. Full of character and in a class all its own, The California Field Atlas is the ultimate love letter to the Golden State.

Review Quotes

Praise for The California Field Atlas (original edition):

"Every California household should have a copy of the 608-page atlas. ... Start with Kaufmann's introduction, because it encapsulates the author's relationship with the landscape he so dearly loves. From there, read it frontward, backward or according to whatever topic piques an interest." --San Jose Mercury News

"A gorgeously illustrated compendium." --Sunset

"If you're looking for freeways or pathways, expressways or BART lines, this book can't help you. If, on the other hand, you're looking to get lost in the flora, fauna, and natural habitats that exist across California beyond the I-5, this is a wonderful little guide." --AFAR

"A modern-day masterpiece." --Santa Barbara Independent

"Transcend[s] the genre of nature writing." --Monterey County Weekly

"A revelation. Kaufmann educates and delights the reader simultaneously." --Mike Sonksen, Entropy

About the Author

Growing up in the East Bay as the son of an astrophysicist and a psychologist, Obi Kaufmann spent most of high school practicing calculus and breaking away on weekends to scramble around Mount Diablo and map its creeks, oak forests, and sage mazes. Into adulthood, he would regularly journey into the mountains, spending more summer nights without a roof than with one. He is the author of The California Field Atlas (2017, #1 San Francisco Chronicle Best Seller), The State of Water: Understanding California's Most Precious Natural Resource (2019), and The Forests of California: A California Field Atlas (2020), all published by Heyday. When he is not backpacking, you can find the painter-poet at home in the East Bay, posting trail paintings at his handle @coyotethunder on Instagram. His website is coyoteandthunder.com.