Ichthyo, The Architecture of Fish: X-rays from the Smithsonian Institution, by Jean-Michel Cousteau, Daniel Pauly and Lynne R. Parenti (Chronicle Books, 2008, $35). Created to preserve a record of scientific samples, the black-and- white X-rays of fish specimens in the collections of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History emerge in this book as works of art.

Unholy Business: A True Tale of Faith, Greed & Forgery in the Holy Land, by Nina Burleigh (Smithsonian Books, 2008, $29.50). A real-life thriller about the high-stakes world of biblical antiquities forgery and what Israeli authorities have called “the fraud of the century.”

Do Cats Hear with Their Feet? Where Cats Come from, What We Know about Them and What They Think about Us, by Jake Page (Smithsonian Books, 2008, $24.95). A look at what natural history can tell us about one of America’s most popular pets and its wild cousins. This book traces the evolution of cats from the time they first adapted their feline form about 20 million years ago.

Worlds of Sound: The Story of Smithsonian Folkways, by Richard Carlin in association with Smithsonian Folkways Recordings (Smithsonian Books, 2008, $35). A vivid account of how Folkways founder Moses Asch captured a diverse array of folk, bluegrass, jazz, poetry and other sounds with a microphone and the belief that all things the human ear hears are worth preserving.

Every Living Thing: Man’s Obsessive Quest to Catalog Life, from Nanobacteria to New Monkeys, by Rob Dunn (Smithsonian Books, 2008, $28.95). A biologist tells the fascinating story of the unending quest to discover, name and describe all life on earth—from classification in the 18th century to today’s attempts to find life in space.

Lincoln’s Men: The President and his Private Secretaries, by Daniel Mark Epstein (Smithsonian Books, 2009, $26.95). A fresh angle on Lincoln as seen by his three young private secretaries—the men who knew him better than anyone outside his immediate family.

Territory: Tony Trischka (Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, 2008, $15). With fearless musical curiosity as his guiding force, Tony Trischka roams widely through the banjo’s creative terrain.

Classic Piano Blues from Smithsonian Folkways (Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, 2008, $15). Born of ragtime and hard times, this release revisits boogie-woogie and blues legends Memphis Slim, Willie Dixon, Speckled Red, Roosevelt Sykes and more.

Cephas & Wiggins: Richmond Blues (Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, 2008, $15). Guitarist-singer John Cephas and his harmonica-player partner Phil Wiggins play the century-old blues of the Piedmont, the Appalachian foothills running from Richmond to Atlanta.

Books listed on Pages 14 and 15 can be ordered through online book vendors or purchased in bookstores nationwide.

Recordings can be ordered from Smithsonian Folkways Mail Order, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings Dept. 0607, Washington, D.C. 20073-0607. To order by phone, call (800) 410-9815 or (202) 275-1143.