She Sells Sea Shells

Another jewel in the Smithsonian library’s digital collection is a work by one Joachim Johann Nepomuk Spalowsky (1752-97), longwindedly entitled Prodromus in Systema Historicum Testaceorum. It’s a beautifully-illustrated treatise on conchology: the study, that is, of marine molluscs…

…Spalowsky was a veritable polymath in the Austrian Empire of the late eighteenth century. Few biographical data are available on him, but he was presumably of Polish Silesian ancestry, being born in Reichenberg, and he was a surgeon attached to the civic regiments of Vienna … His erudition is evidenced by the range of his publications. His inaugural dissertation (1777) treated poisonous plants (e.g. hemlock, monk's hood) and related topics. In addition … he authored works on such diverse topics as birds, mammals and even a disquisition on economics and numismatics, a further sign of his scholarly breadth.

This work remains of importance in containing the original descriptions of several new species and varieties, of which at least two are valid today. Although intended as a ‘prodrome’ or introduction to shelled animals, Spalowsky’s death in 1797 precluded the publication of a more comprehensive review - Alan R. Kabat.

Although the text … is of little interest, the manner in which the hand-colored plates capture the iridescent quality of the shells has never been surpassed. This was achieved through the use of gold and silver leaf, in some cases heavily overpainted with watercolor, for the shiny inside surfaces of shells, such as the Haliotis, or abalone - N. Finley, quoted by Kabat.

She sells sea shells by the sea shore
The shells that she sells are sea-shells, I’m sure.

Until just now I had no idea that this tongue-twister was based on any particular person, but, I now know, 19th Century palaeontologist Mary Anning was its original subject.

I’ve cropped the edges of these images a little. Clicking on them will display larger versions of the same.

Posted by misteraitch at May 5, 2003 04:37 PM | TrackBack