Chenu's Mollusks (1842-1853)
Jean Charles Chenu, Illustrations conchyliologiques ou description et figures de toutes les coquilles connues, vivantes et fossiles. Paris. 1842-1853.
This series by Jean Charles Chenu (1808-1879) is one of the most sumptuous and prized shell publications of the 19th century. It contained a total of 482 plates in 85 livraisons (parts) and four volumes. Because of its large page size, Chenu often illustrated even the larger specimens at greater than life size.
As the French subtitle suggest, Chenu set out to study and beatifully illustrate all species of shells, both fossil and living. Given the incredible diversity of mollusks, this is an extremely ambitious endeavor. By the time of its publication, there were far too many known species to be treated even in a multi-volume publication. The last such attempt, The Manual of Conchology, was done by Academy sceintists George Washington Tyron and Henry A. Pilsbry. It consisted of 45 volumes in two series and extended from 1879 to 1935.
The Pink or Queen Conch, Strombus gigas, is illustrated here. This spectacular marine snail was once abundant in Bermuda, southeast Florida and the West Indies. Overfishing for its meat and shells has rendered it threatened or endangered throughout most of its geographic range.