K’- 
1 v . 
PREFACE. 
A S a connoiffeur of the fine arts, Monf. de 
Calonne, the collector and late proprietor 
of the Mufeum about to be defcribcd, is fufficiently 
known by the fale of, perhaps, the moft fuperb 
collection of paintings, prints* drawings, See. Sec. 
that was ever difpofed of by an individual in this, 
or indeed in any other country : but his attachment 
for, and knowledge of, the productions of nature, 
may poflibly be known but to few. By an attentive 
perufal of the following fhects, however, as alfo of 
the Conchology of Monf. de Favanne (a work, 
begun under the autpices of Monf. de Calonne, but 
not completed in confequence df the troubles in 
France), and by a careful examination of the Mu- 
feum itfelf, his celebrity as a collector of natural 
hiftory will at lead appear to vie with, if it will 
not even be thought fuperior to his fkill in the arts. 
His fortune was ample, and his fituation as a 
minificr of France afforded him the means of ob- 
taining early information whenever curious articles 
were to be difpofed of in any country of Europe, 
whether brought thither by the different circum- 
navigators, or they were the contents of cabinets 
A 2 ccliedsd 
