Book/Printed Material Introduction to a Systematic History of Shelled Animals. Prodromus in systema historicum testaceorum
About this Item
Title
- Introduction to a Systematic History of Shelled Animals.
Other Title
- Prodromus in systema historicum testaceorum
Summary
- Joachim Johann Nepomuk Anton Spalowsky (1752--97) was a veritable polymath in the Austrian Empire of the late 18th century. Little is known of his life, but it is thought that he was of Polish Silesian ancestry. He was a surgeon attached to the civic regiments of Vienna and a member of the Royal Bohemian Society of Sciences in Prague. His erudition is evidenced by the range of his publications. His 1777 inaugural dissertation treated poisonous plants and related topics. He went on to write works on shells, birds, and mammals, and even a disquisition on economics and numismatics. Spalowsky's 1795 treatise on conchology, Prodromus in Systema Historicum Testaceorum (Introduction to a systematic history of shelled animals), is among the rarest of published books on mollusks and other shelled organisms. The work remains of importance for its original descriptions of several new species and varieties. Although Spalowsky intended to write an introduction to all shelled animals, his death in 1797 precluded the publication of a more comprehensive review. The 13 engraved plates are beautifully colored by hand with watercolor and gouache. Gold and silver leaf was applied under the watercolors to capture the iridescent quality of the shells. A descriptive Latin caption heads each plate. The main part of the book is in parallel Latin and German texts, in double columns.
Names
- Spalowsky, Joachim Johann Nepomuk, 1752-1797 Author.
Created / Published
- Vienna : Ignaz Alberti's Wittwe, 1795.
Headings
- - Austria
- - 1795 to 1801
Notes
- - Title devised, in English, by Library staff.
- - "The Smithsonian Institution Libraries' copy is an 1801 re-issue of Spalowsky's book, originally published in 1795."--Note extracted from World Digital Library.
- - Original resource extent: [14], iv, 88 pages; 1 plate (engraving), 13 plates (engravings, hand-colored, with captions on facing tissue guards). 41.6 centimeters.
- - Original resource at: Smithsonian Institution.
- - Content in German and Latin.
- - Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions.
Medium
- 1 online resource.
Digital Id
Library of Congress Control Number
- 2021666748
Online Format
- compressed data
- image