Clam Shells

This rare, quarto shell lithograph is from William Swainson’s Exotic Conchology; or figures and descriptions of rare, beautiful, or undescribed Shells. The work was published in London by Henry G. Bohn in 1841. The work was edited by Syvanus Hanley. Many of the shells featured in the work are from New Zealand, Australia, and the South Seas. Dance referred it to as “one of the most beautifully illustrated works on shells ever published.”

William Swainson (1789-1855) was an English zoological artist. He was a pioneer in the use of lithography for natural history illustrations and considererd one of the best zoological artists of his time.