Shell specimens
Date
1776
Creator
Peter Brown (1758 - 1799, British) , Illustrator
Object type
Library reference
55207
Material
Dimensions
height (print): 199mm
width (print): 270mm
width (print): 270mm
Subject
Content object
Description
Conchological study of eight shell types. Includes, in some cases, depictions of both their external and internal surfaces.
Figures one and two: The Limpet (Patella vulgate)
Figures three, four and five: The Whelk (Buccinum undatum)
Figures six and seven: The Spider Shell (Lambis lambis)
Figures eight and nine: The Large Cockle (Cerastoderma edule)
Figure ten: Two lids of Univalves (Radius volva)
Figure eleven: The Barnacle (Cirripedia)
Figure twelve: A group of Acorn Shells, a barnacle of the genus Balanus
Figures thirteen, fourteen and fifiteen: The teeth of a Bivalve (Bivalvia)
Plate one from Emanuel Mendes da Costa’s book Elements of conchology: or, an introduction to the knowledge of shells, 1776. Inscribed above: ‘PL. I’
Emanuel Mendes da Costa (1717-1791) naturalist was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1747.
Peter Brown (active 1758-1799) British naturalist and natural history illustrator illustrated Mendes da Costa's Elements of conchology.
Figures one and two: The Limpet (Patella vulgate)
Figures three, four and five: The Whelk (Buccinum undatum)
Figures six and seven: The Spider Shell (Lambis lambis)
Figures eight and nine: The Large Cockle (Cerastoderma edule)
Figure ten: Two lids of Univalves (Radius volva)
Figure eleven: The Barnacle (Cirripedia)
Figure twelve: A group of Acorn Shells, a barnacle of the genus Balanus
Figures thirteen, fourteen and fifiteen: The teeth of a Bivalve (Bivalvia)
Plate one from Emanuel Mendes da Costa’s book Elements of conchology: or, an introduction to the knowledge of shells, 1776. Inscribed above: ‘PL. I’
Emanuel Mendes da Costa (1717-1791) naturalist was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1747.
Peter Brown (active 1758-1799) British naturalist and natural history illustrator illustrated Mendes da Costa's Elements of conchology.
Object history
Volume donated to the Royal Society by Ronald Winckworth, British natural historian, 1942.
Related fellows
Emanuel Mendes da Costa (1717 - 1791) , Naturalist