F.M. Regenfuss' Exquisite Shells (1758, Vol 1) Revisited

In the second half of the 18th century, F.M. Regenfuss (the Royal Engraver to King Frederic V of Denmark) created a set of 12 hand-coloured plates with 78 figures - masterpieces from both the aesthetic and zoological point of view - each showing a number of beautifully arranged shells. These illustrations are so accurate that nearly all species shown can be easily recognized. The original French texts were translated, and an expert from the Zoological Museum of Amsterdam compared the hand-coloured plates and the accompanying texts with modern nomenclature; thus both the original and the recent scientific names of all species are given. At last, this extremely rare book is available in digital form for everyone interested in shells or just in the art of scientific drawing unattained in the years after Regenfuss.