Background:

The hand-colored prints presented here were part of a folio illustrated and authored by the British artist George Sowerby.  Unlike other Sowerby seashell series, which had a more scientific orientation, this series was written for the lay person to provide "knowledge ... given in language easily understood, and as little burdened as possible with technical phraseology".

In these plates Sowerby "attempted to convey some of the most striking and interesting Mollouscous animals living in and about our own country."