Life Nature Library

The Life Nature Library is a series of 25 hardbound books published by Time-Life between 1961 and 1965, with revisions to 1968. It has been translated from English into eight languages and sold in 90 countries. Each volume explores an important division of the natural world and is written for educated laymen by a primary author "and the Editors of LIFE".
The 25 volumes:

The Forest, by Peter Farb
The Sea, by Leonard Engel
The Desert, by A. Starker Leopold
The Mountains, by Lorus J. Milne and Margery Milne
Evolution, by Ruth Moore
The Poles, by Willy Ley
The Earth, by Arthur Beiser
The Universe, by David Bergamini
The Insects, by Peter Farb
The Birds, by Roger Tory Peterson
The Plants, by Frits W. Went
The Mammals, by Richard Carrington
The Fishes, by F.D. Ommanney
The Reptiles, by Archie Carr
Ecology, by Peter Farb
The Land and Wildlife of North America, by Peter Farb
The Land and Wildlife of Africa, by Archie Carr
The Land and Wildlife of South America, by Marston Bates
The Land and Wildlife of Tropical Asia, by S. Dillon Ripley
The Land and Wildlife of Eurasia, by François Bourlière
The Land and Wildlife of Australia, by David Bergamini
Early Man, by F. Clark Howell
Animal Behavior, by Niko Tinbergen
The Primates, by Sarel Eimerl and Irven DeVore
''A Guide to the Natural World and Index to the LIFE Nature Library''
Life Young Readers Library

Twelve titles from the Life Nature Library were abridged for a younger audience, and released under multiple editions between 1968 and 1979. They are credited to the primary authors of the original series. This series is variously referred to as the Life Young Readers Library, the Young Readers Library, or the Young Readers Nature Library. The 4th edition of the series numbered the books from 1-12.
The volumes in the Life Young Readers Library are:

Animal Behavior
The Birds
The Desert
Early Man
The Earth
Evolution
The Fishes
The Mammals
The Primates
The Reptiles
The Sea
The Universe

As they were published some time after the initial print run of the Life Nature Library, some revisions were made that reflected advances in scientific understanding. The Earth, for example, dismisses Wegener's theory of continental drift as unsubstantiated; the Young Readers edition, on the other hand, refers to it as "the most widely accepted theory that accounts for the formation of the continents"

Illustrated Library of Nature

The series was reissued in 1984 with some revisions and additions as the Illustrated Library of Nature. The Index was not part of this reissue.