Thesaurus Conchyliorum

Published, First, 2009, George Brettingham Sowerby, I, II & III: their conchological publications and Molluscan taxa 2189, Zootaxa 2189, pp. 1-218 : 32-40

Thesaurus Conchyliorum

The Thesaurus Conchyliorum , or monographs of Genera of Shells, hereinafter referred to simply as the Thesaurus , was, as has been noted by almost everyone writing about the Sowerby family, the only work contributed to by all three generations of Sowerby yclept George Brettingham.

The five volume work appeared in 44 Parts over a period of 46 years (1842–1887). It contains monographs not only by the three Sowerbys but includes contributions by Arthur Adams (1820–1878), William John Broderip (1789–1859), Sylvanus Hanley (1819–1899) Richard Brinsley Hinds (1811–1846), and Frederick Price Marrat (1820–1904). These authors are not identified on the contents pages but their names are on their respective monographs. An exception is the monograph on Oliva by Marrat. It is necessary to read the monograph preface to learn that it is by Marrat.

The Thesaurus is quarto in size with, as usual for Sowerby works, hand colored plates, early plates being engraved and later plates lithographed. Of the 532 plates, only one (Plate 119, Animals of Bullidae ) was never colored. Some of the plates in the last two volumes are believed to have been drawn by G.B. Sowerby III. Until his father died in 1854, G.B. Sowerby II always placed “Jun.” after his name or initials on plates but afterwards used “George Sowerby” for a time and then “G.B. Sowerby.” Beginning with Murex Plate 380, published in 1879, all plates are signed “G.B. Sowerby lith.” and are considered, by this writer, to be the product of G.B. Sowerby III. A few of the plates in the first two volumes have a header with the genus name but beginning with Volume 3 all plates have a header (genus or family name) in an attractive open-letter style similar to Castellar. In a few cases these names appear to have been added to the plates by an apprentice but they are generally of high quality. Also beginning with Volume 3 each monograph was given its own numbering, rendered in Roman numerals immediately after the genus name. The continuous numbering also remained in the form of Arabic numerals in the upper right.

The manner in which the Sowerbys listed their names, as “edited by,” on the title pages is interesting. Volume 1 is imprinted “G. B. Sowerby, Jun., F.L.S. 1847.” On Vol. 2 it is just “G. B. Sowerby, F.L.S. 1855,” his father having died in 1854. This did not change again until Volume 5 in 1887 which is imprinted “G. B. Sowerby, F.Z.S.” G.B. Sowerby II was deceased and G.B. Sowerby III did not become a F.L.S. until 1888.

Many of the species in the Thesaurus were described in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society about the same time. This was due to Hugh Cuming’s requirement that species named from his collection be described in the Proceedings ( Petit 2007: 30).

In common with other Sowerby works, the Thesaurus is difficult to collate. Dates appear only on the title page of each volume and at the end of the final monograph in Volume 5. As shown below, there are duplicated and omitted page numbers as well as duplicated and omitted plate numbers. Some of the duplicated plate numbers are tagged “bis” on the plate but not in the appropriate text. The dating given here, [ Table 5] with one insignificant addition, is taken from Woodward (1903 –1915: 1981). His collation was given by Part and Plate numbers and not matched to the included taxa. A contents page was included in every volume. An “Index to Monographs in the Thesaurus Conchyliorum ,” was issued with the final part. There are numerous errors in these indices, some of them causing Woodward to go slightly astray in a few instances. No claim is made for perfection herein as collation of this work, as with other Sowerby productions, is more difficult than would seem possible.

A Sowerby advertisement appeared on the cover of the Journal of Conchology from its initial issue in February 1874. The first such advertisement to mention any printed matter was in Vol. 5, number 6 issued 20 April 1887. That advertisement stated:

“ THESAURUS CONCHYLIORUM , by. G. B. SOWERBY. Part 44 (completing the Fifth Volume)

contains a completion of the Monographs of the Genera CONUS and VOLUTA , with Twelve

Coloured Plates. Price £ 1 5s.”

Unfortunately 20 April cannot be accepted as the date for Part 44. The final page is an Index to the Voluta Supplement and is imprinted July 1887. Although it is possible that the index was issued later, it is more likely that it was not available in April as planned. July 1887 is here considered to be the publication date of Part 44. In Volume 5, number 8 (October 1887), the advertisement was emended to show the number of plates in Part 44 as 13.

The Illustrated Index of British Shells, New Edition, was also advertised in the April 1887 issue of the Journal of Conchology. It is exceedingly strange that in over a decade of monthly advertisements no mention was made of parts of the Thesaurus being available.

Some of the monographs include multiple genera, usually listed in the volume contents tied by curly brackets to the monographs in which they appear. In the final index most of these included genera are listed separately which is confusing as often more than one genus is on a plate. In the collation given below, most listings are based on the title of the monograph. The entire work is included in this collation although there are some non-molluscan taxa.

“Monographs of the genera Orbicula , Crania , Hipponyx and Thecidium ” is in Volume 1. Separate entries are made for these four as they appear in the monograph title although they are all on one plate. In one case there is no monograph, just plate explanations. In Volume 3 the contents page lists: “ Pupinidae (seven genera of) 263–265).” The only text is the plate explanations. These genera are not listed separately in the collation but are listed below in narrative form with similar entries.

Authorship. In the opening paragraph of this section on the Thesaurus the names of various contributors were mentioned. Some of these require additional comment. In the introduction to the Cerithium monograph in Volume 2, G. B. Sowerby II wrote:

“I wish to record my obligations to Mr. Arthur Adams, Surgeon, R.N., for his kindness in permitting me the full use of his manuscripts on the present genus, of which he was preparing a monograph. Had not that gentleman been called to the country before the work was completed, my readers would have enjoyed the benefit of his labours entire and unadulterated. As it is, having to complete the work which he had begun, I have been forced, in a measure, to model it upon my own views. It has nevertheless been my endeavor, as far as possible, to retain the same arrangements which he proposed, although in another form; …”

The title of the monograph includes, in its entirety, a litany of genera included under Cerithium , almost all in use today, and were used by Adams. It was the non-use of these genera, used by Adams, which Sowerby referenced in his statement that the work was modeled upon his own views. In many instances an Adams name was introduced in the genus Cerithium , with the genus used by Adams in his manuscript placed after his name in parentheses. There are no co-authored names in the monograph, all new names being clearly attributed to either Adams or as “Nobis.” As discussed elsewhere herein, as Sowerby had access to, and used, Adams’ manuscript, names from it should be attributed to Adams in Sowerby. In the literature some are attributed to Adams and some to Sowerby. That Sowerby used Adams’ manuscript is reinforced by the fact that although many new names are simply attributed to Adams, there are three new names in the monographs listed as “A. Adams, MS.” or “A. Adams, ined.” unlike the others that are attributed simply to “A. Adams.” Those three are attributable only to Sowerby. Some of Adams’ names appeared slightly earlier (A. Adams 1855) and do not date from the Thesaurus . As Adams’ names that are newly introduced in the Thesaurus were not listed by Trew (1992), probably as he was not shown as an author of the monograph, they are included herein as “Adams in Sowerby.”

Similarly, in Volume 3, following the Monograph of the Fissurellidae by G. B. Sowerby II, which includes four genera, appears a Monograph of 7 other Fissurellid genera. These genera are all listed individually. The authors of this second monograph are A. Adams & G. B. Sowerby II. An editor’s note at the beginning states that “Owing to engagements interfering to prevent the completion of Mr. Adams’s manuscript, the arrangement of these monographs and final decision respecting many species has fallen into the hands of G. B. S.” New species are attributed in the text and on plate captions either to Adams or to Sowerby. There are no co-authored species. The nomina attributed to Adams were listed by Trew in her compilation ( Trew 1992) as of A. Adams in Adams & Sowerby, 1883.

Within Hanley’s Solarium monograph, G. B. Sowerby II described a species which he named for Hanley. The Pupinidae “monograph” in Part 23 of Volume 3 is an additional part and consists of only three plates with accompanying plate explanations. There is no heading or discussion. Although this Part has always been attributed to G. B. Sowerby II, this Pupinidae addition was authored jointly by Sowerby and A. Adams. Overtly new species are attributed to “A. Ad. and Sowb.” Confirmation of this co-authorship is to be found in the Pupinidae monograph of the Conchologia Iconica.

Production. Few details are available on the production of the Thesaurus . One letter from G.B. Sowerby II to his father, written after the publication of Part 1, outlines a plan, not only for the production but for the division of the profits. It is a difficult to understand and it is not known if these terms and conditions were accepted by his father. The first three of the six proposed terms are interesting as they introduce G. B. Sowerby II’s sister, Charlotte, as a participant.

“1. The species to be identified & described & the subjects to be arranged for figuring by G.B.S. Snr.

2. The outlines of the figures, reduced or otherwise to be made by Ch. [sic; = Charlotte Caroline]

Sowerby.

3. The engravings to be made & the pattern coloured by G.B.S. Jnr.”—(G.B. S. II to G.B. S. I, [1842],

National Museum of Wales Sowerby Archive No. 1910)

Ron Cleevely, who has studied the Sowerby correspondence at Cardiff and London , has advised (personal communication 16 October 2008) that there is no indication that the terms of this letter were ever implemented. It is also Cleevely’s opinion “that GBS Sen’r was probably very authoritative with his own family; they all seem to have to inform/ask him on most matters—even when he is away … on his various projects.”

Taxa. As in other Sowerby works there is often no indication that a name is newly introduced, greatly increasing the probability of a name not being noted as new. In the Fissurellidae monograph the species described by G. B. Sowerby II are denoted as “Sowb. G.B. 2,” the only place such notation has been seen. Elsewhere a distinction is sometimes made as “Sowb. sp.” (= I) and “Sowb. Thes.” (= II). Such attribution does not, of course, mean that they are newly introduced in the Thesaurus . In Volume 3 in the Dentalium monograph, taxa are variously attributed in the text to “Sowb.”, “Sowb. Thes.”, “Sowb. Jun.” and “Sowb. Sen.”

The genera used in the various monographs and not identified in the collation below are here listed under the genus or family where they may be found:

Bullidae —Species are assigned to many subgenera within the genus Bulla .

Calyptraedae [sic; = Calyptraeidae ]— Calyptra , Crucibulum , Trochita , Crepidula

Nuculidae — Nucula , Leda , Yoldia, Portlandia , Solenella, Neilo

Pupinidae — Pollicaria , Pupina , Megalomastoma , Callia, Catalus , Registoma , Raphaulus Solarium — Solarium, Bifrontia

Stomatellinae— Gena, Broderipia , Stomatella, Microtis , Stomatia

Pteropods—several genera

Pagination. Woodward’s listing of Parts 6 and 7 is slightly off as he has Part 6 containing pages 221–238 with plates 56–67 and Part 7 as pages 239–406 with plates 68–78. The Tellina monograph occupies pages 221–336 and plates 56–66, Lingula is on pages 337–339 and plate 67. Not only is it unreasonable that Part 6 would contain only 17 pages of the 116 page monograph and all 11 of its plates, but page 238 is in the middle of a signature. On the other hand, page 339–340 is the end of a signature and its accompanying plate is stated to have been in Part 6. It is therefore considered that the break between Parts 6 and 7 is between pages [340]/341 and plates 67/68.

Given the problems in the numbering of both pages and plates it is not surprising that no listing found for this work gives the correct number of plates. Library catalogues do not state the number of plates and dealers seem to follow Nissen (1969). The collation in Nissen is very good and misses by only 2 plates as the number stated is 530 instead of 532. The duplicated and missing numbers are fortunately listed so the difference can be located exactly. Nissen did not include the Frontispiece in Volume 3, the only volume to have one, nor did he note the two Plates numbered 350. Both Oliva Plate 23 and Oliva Plate 24 are numbered as 350. Plates 364–371 are numbered as 353–360 and 513–514 are numbered as 573–574 but these errors were taken into consideration on following plates and cause no errors in the total. There are several other plates that are incorrectly numbered but are easily noticed and cause no confusion. The page pagination has omissions, overlaps, and varies in format in that some volumes are numbered consecutively while in Volume 5 the genera Cypraea , Oliva , and Mitra have their own pagination, the rest of the volume being numbered consecutively. The pagination of the volumes is:

1. 1–156, 83–156, 157–438 (83–156 were duplicated)

2. 439–899, 157*–168*

3. 1–331

4. 1–57, 1–46, 1–46, 1–56, 59–111

5. 1–5, 9–234, 249–279, 297–307

Reprints—Reissues— In or after 1884, 150 uncolored plates, without text, from the Thesaurus were offered as a bound volume by G. B. Sowerby III. The volume consists of a brown cloth binding with the spine imprinted “A selection of 150 plates from Sowerby’s Thesaurus Conchyliorum or genera of shells” and a gilt imprint of a gastropod. There is no title page, text, or plate captions but it contains some plates issued in Part 42 in 1884. Collins (1969: 13) stated that “the Sowerbys … must have used this rather meretricious work to sell off unwanted stock.” Plates designed for hand coloring do not have much appeal in their uncolored state and without the text or plate captions they are of no value for identification. A copy in original binding that has been examined has 151 plates.

This volume of 150 plates has served to demonstrate that some Thesaurus plates had been reengraved. At least one copy contains a Voluta plate that has been reengraved with the plate number as XCIX instead of XLIX. That plate also bears the artist’s name in lower left corner as “G.B. Sowerby” instead of having “G.B.S.Jun r.” in lower right corner; the lower right corner being inscribed “W.West & C o. imp.”, the printing firm. A search of the “150 Plates” volume disclosed that a number of plates had been reengraved or relithographed, many marked as stated for the Voluta plate but others with the imprints in varying positions as well as some showing a different printer, Hanhart (Michael & Nicholas Hanhart). No printer was shown on original plates. Some sets of the Thesaurus must contain some reengraved plates as these would not have been prepared just for this uncolored, virtually useless, issue.

Parts of the Thesaurus have been reprinted. In 1967 Ormond McGill (1913–2005) produced, under the name Elite Press, a “reprint” of the Thesaurus Murex (Parts 33–34). It appeared in a yellow-orange board cover with plastic comb binding. The following excerpts from a review are quite correct:

“There has been a badly executed copy of a part of G. B. Sowerby’s 1879 section on Murex from the

Thesaurus Conchyliorum , released by a California business man. Although glibly advertised as a

‘treasured collector’s item’ and with ‘precisely reproduced’ illustrations, the pamphlet is not a facsimile, but a poorly ‘varityped?’ copy of the explanation to the plates, and a doctored, black-and-

white photo-offset of the original colored publication. Most of the figures are so muddy and poorly done that only a few dozen of the 264 figures are useful. The 55 pages of text and index are not included. There are spelling mistakes in the copy …; plate numbers and special size indications are omitted on the plates. The introduction says that the ‘Theasuarus’ (should be Thesaurus ) contains names of the times of Sowerby and that there have been some name changes since. …”—[emphasis and lack of italics as in original]—( Abbott 1967)

A series of reprints of various monographs was produced from 1981–1985 by Luis Pisani Burnay of Lisbon. Of good quality, these contain the text and colored plates of each monograph reprinted. Two of them contain additional text by specialists. The plates are on heavy stock, in some bound so they will lie flat and in pockets in others. Those reproduced are:

1981. Monograph of the genus Columbella . 40 pp., 5 pls.

1981. Monograph of the genera Spondylus , Plicatula and Pedum . 22 pp., 8 pls.

1981. Monograph of the genus Marginella . 34 pp., 5 pls.

1982. Monograph of the genera Fissurella , Fissurellidea , Clypidella , Macrochisma and Pupillacea. 24 pp., 9 pls.

1983. Monograph of the genus Murex . 55 pp., 24 pls.

1984. Monograph of the genus Natica , with an analytical list by R. M. Dixon. 30 pp., 9 pls., 14 pp.

1985. Monograph of the genus Cancellaria with an update by A. Verhecken. 23 pp., 5 pls., 11 pp.