George Brettingham Sowerby I

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George Brettingham Sowerby I (born August 12, 1788 in Lambeth , † July 26, 1854 in Hornsey (London) ) was a British malacologist , illustrator and publisher.

Plate from Sowerby A conchylogical manual

Sowerby was raised privately and continued the work of his father James Sowerby on illustrated books on natural history and specifically on molluscs , first at the conclusion of his mineral Conchology of Great Britain (with his older brother James de Carle Sowerby ), then he began the Thesaurus Conchylorum which was continued by his son George Brettingham Sowerby II (1812-1884) and grandson George Brettingham Sowerby III (1843-1921). As a publisher and bookseller, he was based in London.

He also published essays in malacology and contributed descriptions of fossil molluscs to Charles Darwin's travelogue to South America .

Sowerby had been married to Elizabeth Meredith since 1811 and had two sons, George Brettingham Sowerby II and Henry Sowerby. His son Henry Sowerby (1825-1891) was also an illustrator of science books, who emigrated to Australia in 1854. He was previously Assistant Curator and Librarian of the Linnean Society and wrote a Popular Mineralogy in 1850 .

With T. Bell, JG Children and his brother James De Carle Sowerby he edited The Zoological Journal (2 volumes, 1825/26) and he tried to found The Malacological and Conchological Magazine , of which only one year ( 1838) appeared.

In 1811 he became a Fellow of the Linnean Society .

Fonts

  • A Conchological Manual. 1839, Project Gutenberg
  • The General of Recent and Fossil Shells. from 1820 (with James De Carle Sowerby)
  • Thesaurus Conchyliorum. several volumes, from 1842 (with his son George)
  • Illustrated Index of British Shells. 1859, Project Gutenberg

In 1825 he published a catalog of mussels and snails he had compiled in the collection of the Earl of Tankerville . A manuscript of his catalog of the East India Company's Malacological Collection is in the British Museum.

literature

personal data
SURNAME Sowerby, George Brettingham I
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sowerby, George Brettingham
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British malacologist
DATE OF BIRTH August 12, 1788
PLACE OF BIRTH London Borough of Lambeth
DATE OF DEATH July 26, 1854
Place of death Hornsey (London)