Original edition of this finely illustrated handbook on conchology and mollusks, preceded by a dedication to Madame François Delessert by Chenu and a general introduction on zoology, including mammals, fishes, birds and various insects. A slightly different edition appeared the same year, published by Dubochet et Le Chevalier. The author Jean-Charles Chenu (1808-1879) was a French military physician and naturalist, writing on both medical and natural historical subjects, including a book on the Cholera morbus (1835) and an Encyclopaedia of Natural history (1850). He was also the conservator of Delessert's natural history museum. Chenu wrote in that capacity his Notice sur le musée conchyliologique de M. le Baron Benjamin Delessert (Paris, 1844).
With booksellers label on the front pastedown: "Librairie Jacques Lechevalier, Paris", bright yellow pastedowns and flyleaves somewhat soiled, joints weak; the plates are beautifully coloured and the present copy of this finely illustrated book is overall in good condition. BM, Nat. Hist., I, 341; cf. Uit de schelp gekropen (Exhib. Cat. Univ. Louvain, 1989), no. 56.