BROWN, Captain Thomas (1785-1862)

Illustrations of the Recent Conchology of Great Britain and Ireland, with the description and localities of all the species, marine, land, and fresh water ... Second Edition, greatly enlarged

London: Smith, Elder, and Co., 1844. Large quarto. (12 1/16 x 9 5/8 inches). [15], 144pp. 62 hand-coloured plates.

Publisher's red cloth, spine titled in gilt.

Second edition, "greatly enlarged," of this classic catalogue of mollusca with beautifully hand-colored plates.

Thomas Brown was a British naturalist and malacologist. He gained the title of captain in 1811, after rising through the ranks of the Forfar and Kincardine Militia, which he joined at the age of 21. Brown created paintings for the first European edition of Wilson's American Ornithology and edited Oliver Goldsmith's History of the Earth and Animated Nature, In 1838, he became a curator of the Manchester Natural History Society's Museum and was later elected fellow of the Linnean Society and president of the Royal Physical Society. He wrote a number of natural history books which he also illustrated and coloured. First published in 1827 (with only 53 plates), this enlarged edition of Brown's beautiful catalogue of mollusks of the British Isles contains 62 full-page plates of shells drawn by Brown and engraved by William Home Lizars, whose works, including those for Audubon's Birds of America and many editions of Sir Walter Scott, "rank among the finest of the early 19th century" (Greg Peters). "Every shell, as far as possible, has been drawn from Nature, and generally from the largest and most beautiful specimens which the author could meet with" (Preface).

Nissen ZBI 609.

Item #39436

Price: $1,850.00