Cousteau Memorabilia

Item Description

Own a piece of history!

This first-edition, hard bound copy of The Silent World is signed by Jacques Cousteau's son, Jean-Michel and his grandchildren, Fabien and Céline.  It is in good condition and has been well loved by the Cousteau family since its publication. It does not have a dust jacket.

The Silent World (subtitle: A story of undersea discovery and adventure, by the first men to swim at record depths with the freedom of fish) is a 1953 book co-authored by Captain Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Frédéric Dumas and edited by James Dugan. Although a French national, Cousteau wrote the book in English. The book recounts how Cousteau and Émile Gagnan designed, built and tested the first "aqua-lung" in the summer of 1943 off the southern coast of France. In the opening chapters Cousteau describes the earliest days of scuba diving with his diving companions Frédéric Dumas and Philippe Tailliez. The aqualung allowed, for the first time in history, untethered, free-floating, and extended deep water diving and ushered in the modern era of scuba diving. Later chapters include excursions diving ship wrecks.

This book was the basis of the Academy Award-winning documentary The Silent World (1956). As of the book's 50th anniversary, it has been translated into some 22 languages and sold over 5 million copies and is still in print.

The book contains 48 pages of black and white photos by various photographers and 16 pages of color images. The hand-held work in Ektachrome "is the first ever made in significant depths, using artificial light and scientific color correction."

Autographed by:

Jean-Michel Cousteau -
Explorer, diplomat for the environment, educator, and film producer, Jean-Michel Cousteau has communicated his love and concern for our water planet to people of all nations and generations for more than four decades. The son of ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau, Jean-Michel founded Ocean Futures Society in 1999 to carry on this pioneering work and to honor his heritage.

Jean-Michel serves as an impassioned diplomat for the environment, reaching out to the public through a variety of media, producing over 80 films, receiving Emmy awards, the Peabody Award, the 7 d'Or, and the Cable Ace Award, and authoring hundreds of articles and several books. Jean-Michel travels the globe, meeting with leaders and policymakers at the grassroots level and at the highest echelons of government and business, educating young people, documenting stories of change and hope, and lending his reputation and support to energize alliances for positive change.

Fabien Cousteau -
Third-generation ocean explorer, Fabien shares his father’s and grandfather’s love of ocean adventure and protection. Only four years old when he first dived, he has been diving and working to educate others about the global ocean ever since. One of Fabien's oceanic passions is the understanding and protection of sharks. In June 2006, CBS aired his special, Mind of a Demon. With the help of a team of experts, Fabien created a 14-foot, 1,200 pound, shark submarine to enable him to move among sharks without influencing their behavior. Fabien plays a key role in Ocean Adventures, interviewing experts, assisting production and diving with the crew. A graduate of Boston University in environmental economics, Fabien lives in New York City.

Céline Cousteau -
Whether Céline is free diving, hiking through the Andes or swimming with South Pacific sharks, the daughter of ocean explorer Jean-Michel Cousteau and granddaughter of legendary Jacques-Yves Cousteau is an adventurer in her own right.

With her own film production company and foundation, Céline focuses on the human story behind environmental issues and provides support to the issues she covers, working with organizations like Amazon Promise. She is also an ambassador for environmental products like La Prairie’s advanced marine biology line and her work is supported by corporations like Rockport.

With a master’s degree in international and intercultural management from the School for International Training in Vermont, Céline served as regional coordinator for Africa and the Middle East for the Earth Council Alliance. She also led excursions as regional director for Butterfield & Robinson, an adventure travel company. She first joined her father during The Gray Whale Obstacle Course and has been working on documentaries around the world ever since. As field producer, diver and logistics coordinator for Return to the Amazon, she led a team into multiple, hard to access areas, including glaciers in the Andes and rarely seen protected areas in Brazil. She also negotiated access to an indigenous conference never before filmed.

Item Special Note

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