Rudiments of Conchology: Intended as a Familiar Introduction to the Science. With Explanatory Plates, and References to the Collection of Shells in the British Museum. A New and Improved Edition.

VENNING, Mary Anne.

Published by London: Darton and Harvey, [1837]

About this Item

Second edition (following the first of 1826) of this popular primer on shells, accompanied by beautiful hand-coloured illustrations. Venning compares the taxonomic systems of Linnaeus and Lamarck through a lively conversation between two children and their father. Titled "Conversations on Conchology" on the front cover, this edition aligns itself with Jane Marcet's popular Conversations series. Venning faced social constraints that blocked a formal scientific career but allowed for educational work. Venning's ideas had a broad circulation, launching her career as a scientific writer and establishing her authority as an educator of the young (Norcia, p. 33-4). Little else is known of Venning, but her published works demonstrate a sustained interest in taxonomy, including A Botanical Catechism: Designed to Explain the Linnean Arrangement to Children (1825) and Rudiments of Mineralogy Designed for Young Persons (1830). She was also praised for A Geographical Present; Being Descriptions of the Principal Countries of the World (1817), a notable contribution to pre-Darwinian discourse on the origins of mankind. During the 1820 and 1830s, the "conversation" format - a familiar-toned dialogue - became women's preferred literary form to introduce new branches of science, following the outstanding success of Marcet's (1769-1858) series, which was initiated with Conversations on Chemistry in 1805. Megan A. Norcia, X Marks the Spot: Women Writers Map the Empire for British Children, 1790-1895, 2010. Duodecimo. Tissue-guarded engraved frontispiece, 9 plates, all hand-coloured. Original green morocco-grain cloth, front cover lettered in gilt and blocked with gilt scrollwork centrepiece, the same framed and decoratively blocked in blind, pale yellow coated endpapers, edges gilt. Corners and spine ends bumped, spine and board edges of covers toned, gilt bright, rear inner hinge starting, light foxing to contents: a very good copy.

Seller Inventory # 177832

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Rudiments of Conchology: Intended as a Familiar Introduction to the Science. With Explanatory Plates, and References to the Collection of Shells in the British Museum. A New and Improved Edition.
• Publisher: London: Darton and Harvey, [1837]