•Secttona] T.,-7-;v 



oncd libran-- 



Eepriiited from The Nautilus, Vol. 66, No. 2, October, 1952 

 Printed in U. S. A. 



THE PUBLICATION DATES OF KOBELT'S 

 "ILLUSTRIERTES CONCHYLIENBUCH" 



By HARALD A. EEHDEE* 



In Publishing bis "Illustriertes Conehylienbueh, " W. Kobelt 

 hoped to place into the hands of the average eoUector an illus- 

 strated handbook tbat would give bim a guide to arranging bis 

 collection, as well as an aid in identifying the eommoner shells 

 in bis possession. He also intended it to be of use to the more 

 serious student by including, with brief descriptions, all the im- 

 portant genera and subgenera of mollusks, wbieb he illustrated 

 by depieting on 112 plates 2,354 species, all the very good figures 

 being drawn by bis own band. Besides those speeies figured 

 others are mentioned and briefly diagnosed in the text. 



The principal importanee of Kobelt 's work todaj^ lies in the 

 faet tbat be cited types for many, though not all, of the genera 

 and subgenera mentioned in bis handbook. These type designa- 

 tions bave commonly been overlooked and many of them antedate 

 those of Cossmann, Harris, and others. 



Neither of the two volumes into whieh this work is divided 

 bears a date on the titlepage. In faet, the only date given 

 anywhere is tbat of the iutroduction, where March 1878 is eited. 

 Because of its importanee as a source of type designations, it 

 is neeessary to establish the publieation dates of the different 



• Published by permission of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. 



70 



