Beschreibung:

WILLIAM SWAINSON (1789-1855) Exotic Conchology; or drawings and descriptions of rare, beautiful, or undescribed Shells . London: Baldwin & Cradock, etc., 1834 [plates watermarked 1821]. 4° (297 x 237mm). Engraved title. 48 FINE HAND-COLOURED LITHOGRAPHIC PLATES by Swainson, all but two of the plates (13 and 15) numbered in manuscript. [With:] 8 loosely inserted drawings, including 3 ORIGINAL PENCIL DRAWINGS OF SHELLS on 2 sheets (approx. 150 x 180 mm) signed 'Mary Swainson' dated June 1st 1822 and April 20th 1823. Original publisher’s blue cloth with gilt title on the upper board (light uneven fading to covers, some very insignificant stains, extremities faintly rubbed). EXTREMELY RARE FIRST EDITION , second issue, the first to contain all 48 plates. The book had first been issued in four parts with 32 plates between 1821-22. This 1834 issue appeared in 6 parts without letterpress between January 1834 and March 1835 with coloured or uncoloured plates, according to the subscriber’s wishes. 7 of the first 32 plates (Nos. 1, 7, 22, 23, 25, 29 and 30) are here watermarked ‘J. Whatman 1821’. The other 25 plates were most likely redrawn for this 1834. The drawings by Mary Swainson, William's wife, are of 'Voluta tuberculata' from South America (first published in Exotic Conchology as plate 29 in March 1822, thus pre-dating the drawing offered here) and 'Nerita mamilla' (a Cuban shell) and 'Helix pomatia' (the famous edible 'escargot' snail), these not included in the present work. ' ONE OF THE RAREST AND MOST BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATED WORKS ON SHELLS EVER PUBLISHED ' (Dance, p.125). BM(NH) V, 2054; Dance 284; Nissen ZBI 4049.