Index testarum conchyliorum quae adservantur in Museo Nicolai Gualtieri Philosophi et Medici Collegiati Florentini, Regiae Botanices Florentinae Academiae Socii in Pisano Athenaeo Medicinae Professoris emeriti et methodice exhibentur tabulis CX de GUALTIERI, Niccolo (1688-1744) - 1742

Florence: Caietani Albizzini, 1742. Folio. (17 7/8 x 12 1/4 inches). Titles printed in red and black. Engraved frontispiece, portrait, 110 numbered full-page plates, 17 vignettes on section titles, 18 other vignettes and plates in text. Expertly bound to style in half period mottled calf and patterned paper covered boards A lovely wide-margined first edition of this beautiful shell book, depicting the author's famed collection of specimens. Niccolo Gualtieri (1688-1744) was a professor at the University of Pisa and physician to Cosimo III, Grand Duke of Tuscany. The Duke was a keen collector, whose cabinet of shells included 360 species sent to him by Rumphius. The present work shows Gualtieri's collection, including examples given to him by Cosimo III. One of the most beautiful books on shells ever published, the plates are engraved by P.A. Pazzi after drawings by Giuseppe Menabuoni, which depict many of the shells standing on their apices. Gualtieri's collection is extant and can be found in the Museo storia naturale in Pisa. Cobres p 110 n 23; Nissen ZBI 1736; Dance, p. 57.