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Martin Lister and his remarkable daughters : the art of science in the seventeenth century / Anna Marie Roos.

By: Publisher: Oxford : Bodleian Library, 2019Description: vii, 182 pages, 32 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (black and white, and colour) ; 24 cmISBN:
  • 9781851244898
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 594 23
Contents:
Introduction -- Martin Lister: a scientist by nature -- Shell games -- The legacy of the Listers -- Notes.
Summary: Martin Lister, royal physician and fellow of the Royal Society, was an extraordinary prolific natural historian with an expertise in shells and molluscs. Disappointed with the work of established artists, Lister decided to teach his daughters, Susanna and Anna, how to illustrate images of the specimens he studied. The sisters became so skilled at this that Lister entrusted them with his great work, Historiae Conchyliorum, assembled between 1685 and 1692. This first comprehensive study of conchology consisted of over 1,000 copper plates of shells and molluscs collected from around the world. Susanna and Anna portrayed the shells not only as curious and beautiful objects, but also as specimens of natural history rendered with sensitivity and keen scientific empiricism. Beautiful in their own right, these illustrations and engravings reveal the early techniques behind scientific illustration together with the often unnoticed role of women in the scientific revolution.
List(s) this item appears in: New acquisitions 2019 | Acquisitions 2019-2020
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Holdings
Item type Current library Collection Call number Status Date due Barcode
Loanable Book Library General Collection 594 ROS (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available 000412278

Includes bibliographical references (pages 163-176) and index.

Introduction -- Martin Lister: a scientist by nature -- Shell games -- The legacy of the Listers -- Notes.

Martin Lister, royal physician and fellow of the Royal Society, was an extraordinary prolific natural historian with an expertise in shells and molluscs. Disappointed with the work of established artists, Lister decided to teach his daughters, Susanna and Anna, how to illustrate images of the specimens he studied. The sisters became so skilled at this that Lister entrusted them with his great work, Historiae Conchyliorum, assembled between 1685 and 1692. This first comprehensive study of conchology consisted of over 1,000 copper plates of shells and molluscs collected from around the world. Susanna and Anna portrayed the shells not only as curious and beautiful objects, but also as specimens of natural history rendered with sensitivity and keen scientific empiricism. Beautiful in their own right, these illustrations and engravings reveal the early techniques behind scientific illustration together with the often unnoticed role of women in the scientific revolution.

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