Sowerby, George Brettingham (1820-1825), Genera of recent and fossil shells for the use of students in conchology and geology / commenced by James Sowerby F.L.S. and continued by George Brettingham Sowerby F.L.S., with original plates by James Sowerby and J.D.C. Sowerby, London. 2 vols.
The Genera of recent and fossil shells … is a two volume work of great malacological importance due to the number of new genera and species which it introduced to the scientific world. The work and its plates were written by several of the Sowerby family over 14 years. The complete work was issued in 42 parts and contains 265 very finely illustrated plates. Unfortunately individual plates are rarely given specific authorship and are not numbered. The parts were each published in a numbered series with a title page. Often the title page listed the genera described and illustrated in that issue.
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| Pages from The Genera of recent and fossil shells, Vol. 1. Photo: James Cook University Library |
The Genera … was written by George Brettingham Sowerby I. The work is often erroneously listed as being by James Sowerby with only the latter parts being by G.B. Sowerby. This is partially due to the ambiguous wording on various covers, as well as the result of the title page by Quaritch in the reissue of 1875 (discussed below).
The original issue of this two volume work did not have numbered text pages or plate pages, a title page or an index. The Genera was reissued in 1875 by a London book dealer Bernard Quaritch, who produced a title page and an index. That title page read:
The genera - of - recent and fossil shells, for the use of students - in - conchology and geology. - Commenced by -James Sowerby F.L.S. &c. and continued by George Brettingham Sowerby F.L.S. -with original plates by James Sowerby and J.D.C. Sowerby -London -1820-25.
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| Pages from The Genera of recent and fossil shells, Vol. 2. Photo: James Cook University Library |
When searching on this title, several additions of this work appear. For example, the Quaritch edition is shown in e-rara.ch, the Platform for Digitised Rare Books from Swiss libraries (https://www.e-rara.ch/zut/content/structure/5383173). The Internet Archive provides another slightly different version (https://archive.org/details/generaofrecentfo11820sowe). Yet another edition is provided by the UN Biodiversity Heritage Library at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/86281#/summary
Whilst this all adds up to a somewhat confused publication history and a cataloguing librarian’s nightmare, it certainly does not detract from the beauty of the hundreds of stunning illustrations in this important scientific work.
The version provided by JCU Specials Collection exemplifies this confusion. This work is in two volumes, with a spine title of Genera of recent and fossil shells, Sowerby. The work has no title page, no contents list or index, and no pagination. There are several hundred parts in these volumes. The parts do not appear to be in alphabetical order. Each part has a full page of coloured illustrations, followed by 1-2 pages of descriptive text beginning with a clear title for that group of shells (eg. Siliquaria, Galeolaria). The books and illustrations are small (14 x 23 cm), but each illustration is exquisitely drawn and coloured. A book plate is included on the inside cover of each volume, under the name of Margaret Crichton Stuart.
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| Pages from The Genera of recent and fossil shells, Vol. 2. Photo: James Cook University Library |
Lady Margaret Crichton-Stuart was born on 24 December 1875. She was the daughter of John Patrick Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of the County of Bute and Hon. Gwendolen Mary Anne Fitzalan-Howard. The Stuart family’s connection to Bute goes back as far as the 1300s. Margaret’s father, the 3rd Marquess, was a supporter of education for women. He funded the salary of the 1st female lecturer at St Andrews University. He also encouraged his daughter to academic studies.
Margaret married Colonel Sir Colin William MacRae of Feoirlinn, in 1909. She died in 1964 at age 88. Her married name became MacRae. The family offered the Mount Stuart house as a medical facility during WW1, where Margaret and her sister-in-law worked in running the facility throughout the war years. She was awarded the King’s Service Red Cross Medal, and the Order of the British Empire (O.B.E.) in 1920. She held the office of Justice of the Peace for Bute. She was appointed Dame of Justice, Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem. She was awarded the Silver Jubilee Medal in 1935.
Mount Stuart House on the Isle of Bute now houses one of the finest and largest private collections of artwork, archives, and books in the UK. Mount Stuart is now home to some 25,000 books on topics such as architecture, theology, botany, ornithology, Scottish literature and history (https://www.mountstuart.com/house/).
About the author(s)
The Sowerby family was a British family of several generations of naturalists, illustrators, botanists and zoologists working from the late 18th century through to the mid twentieth century. James Sowerby (1757-1822) was the patriarch of the famous family. James de Carle Sowerby (1787-1871) and George Brettingham Sowerby (1788-1854) were his sons. George is usually cited as ‘G.B. Sowerby I’. His son, George Brettingham Sowerby Jr (1812-1884) is often cited as ‘II’. G.B. Sowerby III (1843-1921) followed in the family tradition.
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| Pages from The Genera of recent and fossil shells, Vol. 2. Photo: James Cook University Library |
The three George Sowerbys produced major works on molluscs and their taxonomy. As their names were so similar confusion abounds in the literature over who had authorship of particular publications, with little effort being made to sign illustrations or to clearly state authorship. The Sowerbys seemed to have a somewhat cavalier attitude towards dating their own works, as well as attributing authorship to their predecessors.
The Genera of recent and fossil shells…was the first publishing venture by G.B. Sowerby I, but his father James had been issuing the Mineral conchology since 1812 and botanical works even earlier. The Sowerbys were very fine artists as well as naturalists. However, most of the Sowerbys did not sign their work, thus leading to considerable confusion over ownership of the drawings in the Genera. It appears that James, his sons, James and George I, and George II all illustrated parts of the Genera over time.
Suzie Davies, Special Collections Volunteer
James Cook University Library
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Bibliography
Petit, Richard E. (2006). Notes on Sowerby’s The genera of recent and fossil shells (1821-1834). Archives of Natural History, 33(1), 71-89. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.3366/anh.2006.33.1.71
Petit, Richard E. (2009). George Brettingham Sowerby, I, II & III: their conchological publications and molluscan taxa. Zootaxa 2189, 1-218. Retrieved from http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2009/2/zt02189p218.pdf
Sherborn, C.D. (1894). On the dates of Sowerby’s ‘Genera of Recent and Fossil Shells’. Journal of Natural History, 13(76), 370-371. DOI: 10.1080/00222939408677716
Wikipedia contributors. (2016). Sowerby family. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 30 May, 2018, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sowerby_family&oldid=751024888
Wikipedia contributors. (2018). John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 30 May, 2018, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Crichton-Stuart,_3rd_Marquess_of_Bute&oldid=839466808
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