J.S. Leitner Sea-shells, pl.81 Mytili 245 x 187 mm
An original hand-coloured engraving for F. Martini and J. Chemnitz's 'Neues systematisches Conchylien-Cabinet', Nuremberg 1769-88
The most beautifully produced German iconography on shells, portraying marine shells from all over the world including those from Cook's voyage into the Pacific. Friederich Wilhelm Martini, a Hamburg physician, conceived the idea of publishing the first large-scale encyclopaedia of shells illustrated with hand-coloured plates. His ambition was to describe and portray every kind of shell known, an ambition virtually impossible to fulfil, as others have discovered since. No sooner was the third volume of the 'Neues Systematisches Conchylien-Cabinet' in print that its author died, in 1778. Publication was continued by Johann Hieronymus Chemnitz, a Danish clergyman who, between 1779 and 1795, added a further eight volumes" (Dance, Shells p. 24). The portrayed shells come from famous 'wunderkammer' collections of Kings and nobility, as well as wealthy merchants, such as the museum of Lorenz Spengler, cabinet maker of the King of Denmark. Also included were the very extensive collections of Martini, in the first 3 volumes, and of Chemnitz in the other volumes. The most beautifully produced German iconography on shells, portraying marine shells from all over the world including those from Cook's voyage into the Pacific. Friederich Wilhelm Martini, a Hamburg physician, conceived the idea of publishing the first large-scale encyclopaedia of shells illustrated with hand-coloured plates. His ambition was to describe and portray every kind of shell known, an ambition virtually impossible to fulfil, as others have discovered since. No sooner was the third volume of the 'Neues Systematisches Conchylien-Cabinet' in print that its author died, in 1778. Publication was continued by Johann Hieronymus Chemnitz, a Danish clergyman who, between 1779 and 1795, added a further eight volumes" (Dance, Shells p. 24). The portrayed shells come from famous 'wunderkammer' collections of Kings and nobility, as well as wealthy merchants, such as the museum of Lorenz Spengler, cabinet maker of the King of Denmark. Also included were the very extensive collections of Martini, in the first 3 volumes, and of Chemnitz in the other volumes.
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