Could someone help me identify a book?...............

A buddy of mine told me about this illustrated sci-fi book he read many moons ago. The main gist was that Earth had been abandoned and had been turned into a giant library w/ apes or ape-like creatures serving as librarians. The only other feature he could remember was that there was a subplot about the only remaining inhabited island on Earth was considered valuable because of some rich nickel deposits. For some reason, he was thinking it was a book written by Frank Herbert, but wasn't 100% sure. I did a search of Frank Herbert's work and could find zero.

Hey, I know this is a shot in the dark, but there are some top-notch sci-fi fans here and I was hoping against hope that my description would tickle some synapses.

Thanks all.

- that's usually code for "comic book".

If it isn't let me know and I'll see what I can find out.

Some examples of the genre:

Expedition by Wayne Douglas Barlowe, Planet Story by Harry Harrison and painter Jim Burns (out of print) or even the Terran Trade Authority series by Stewart Cowley.

I know its not much to go on, but thanks for any help. Its always nice to have a good geek network for these kinds of things.

Its "Direct Descent" by Frank Herbert. It was so hard to locate because the illustrated version was a limited edition. I just scored myself a new copy from a used bookseller in FL. I love Alibris!