No. 194 of 248 · The Natural History Series
Nautilus Shells
Pictures by Albertus Seba
Nautilus and argonaut shells in pearly teal, rose and copper, engraved for Albertus Seba's Thesaurus of Natural Curiosities in 1758. Seba, an Amsterdam apothecary, had his great cabinet of shells drawn, and the nautilus, which seals off old chambers as it grows, led Oliver Wendell Holmes to imagine a soul building more stately mansions. For someone who loves the sea and old curiosities.
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On the back
From the great natural-history books of the 1700s to the 1900s / Nautilus Shells / Nautilus and argonauts / The nautilus lives in the outer chamber of its shell and seals off the old ones as it grows, using them to float. The poet Oliver Wendell Holmes saw in it a soul building 'more stately mansions'. / Thesaurus of Natural Curiosities, vol. 3, 1758 / Albertus Seba, an Amsterdam apothecary, had his great cabinet of shells and sea creatures drawn and engraved.
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