Conchology, or the Natural History of Shells: containing a new arrangement of the genera and species

London: W. Bulmer and Co. for William Miller, 1811. Folio. (17 x 11 inches). 61 hand-coloured aquatint plates by John Clarke after the author. Contemporary half calf and marble paper boards, spine with raised bands forming six compartments, red morroco lettering piece in the second compartment, other compartments elaborately tooled gilt

A remarkably clean copy of the first edition of the only work on shells to be illustrated with aquatints.

Richard E. Petit, writing in Zootaxa, has identified three distinct editions of George Perrys Conchology. The present example meets Petit's criteria for the first edition: the text facing Plate (truncated) I includes 15 lines under Remarks, and the final index leaf bears the imprint of W. Bulmer and Co. Perry was a British naturalist and illustrator whose work, though initially dismissed by many of his contemporaries, has since been reassessed for its scientific contributions. In Conchology, he established authoritative sources for his illustrations, citing shells from the collections of the British Museum, William Bullock, George Annesley (Viscount Valentia), H. C. Jennings, W. J. Broderip, and Elizabeth Bligh (wife of William Bligh of Bounty fame). However, when John Edward Gray first brought Perry's work to the attention of the scientific community, pointing out that Perry appeared to have described and named numerous shells for the first time, controversy erupted. G. B. Sowerby accused Perry of inventing many of the specimens, a charge echoed by N. A. Vigors and L. A. Reeve. Their skepticism was fueled in part by Perry's use of unusually vivid colors, which seemed more artistic than scientific. Yet modern scholarship has softened this stance, recognizing that "many of the work's new generic and specific names are firmly entrenched in the literature today" (Dance p. 121). Today, Conchology is valued not only for its striking illustrations but also for its taxonomic legacy, as many of Perry's names remain in scientific use.

Brunet IV, 516: 'Ouvrage bien imprimé ...'; Dance 223; Freeman 2972; Nissen ZBI 3134; Dance A History of Shell Collecting, pp. 120-121; R.E. Petit. 'George Perry's molluscan taxa and notes on the editions of his Conchology of 1811' in Zootaxa (2003) issue 377, pp.1-72. (Inventory #: 42117)