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[viii], 984, [78] pp. Complete with the frontispiece portrait of the author and 22 engraved plates, containing 157 numbered figures. (8vo) early vellum. First Edition. 

Friedrich Christian Lesser was a German Lutheran theologian and historian. Lesser studied first medicine, and then Protestant Theology at the Universities of Halle and Leipzig . He published numerous works on various subject areas, including the first printed chronicle of his hometown. A special interest was the " physico " by which he tried to make scientific findings in terms of the knowledge of God available. This volume presents an early account of shells in art, medicine, commerce and their use as a currency. This volume documents the important German shell collections in the early 18th century. Over 100 collections are described including those of Negeleins, Raths Sandrart and Schulenberg. The work is illustrated with fine line drawings with 157 numbered figures of shells. Scarce .