Agnes Catlow (1806–1889) was a 19th-century British science writer best known for a popular book on

conchology Conchology () is the study of mollusc shells. Conchology is one aspect of malacology, the study of molluscs; however, malacology is the study of molluscs as whole organisms, whereas conchology is confined to the study of their shells. It includ ...

Early life

Catlow was born in 1806 in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, the daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth Catlow. By the 1860s Catlow and her sister Maria were living in Chertsey in Surrey.

Background

Not much is known of Agnes Catlow's family background and education. It is clear from her publications that she was well-educated, especially in such natural sciences as

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

and

entomology Entomology () is the science, scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such ...

. Throughout her life, she traveled widely, sometimes with her sister Maria, who was also a science writer. Catlow died at her house in Addlestone, Surrey on 10 May 1889 aged 82.

Career

Catlow was one of a group of mid-Victorian-era women scientific writers who published mainly for children, helping to bring science education into the home. As she said of her work in the preface to ''Drops of Water'', her 1851 book on

microscopy Microscopy is the technical field of using microscopes to view objects and areas of objects that cannot be seen with the naked eye (objects that are not within the resolution range of the normal eye). There are three well-known branches of micr ...

, "My experience and observations may be more genial to the beginner, than the scientific treatises of more able authors." Catlow was one of the earlier writers to publish a popular account of microscopy, which became something of a craze in England in the 1850s. Her greatest success as an author came with her 1842 book ''Popular Conchology'', at over 350 pages a well-informed and comprehensive overview of both existing shell families and (starting with the second edition) fossil shells. In the first edition, she organized the families and genera according to

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, chevalier de Lamarck (1 August 1744 – 18 December 1829), often known simply as Lamarck (; ), was a French naturalist, biologist, academic, and soldier. He was an early proponent of the idea that biologi ...

's work; in the second edition, she followed the system of the German-Chilean zoologist Rodolfo Amando Philippi, whose ''Handbook of Conchology and

Malacology Malacology is the branch of invertebrate zoology that deals with the study of the Mollusca (mollusks or molluscs), the second-largest phylum of animals in terms of described species after the arthropods. Mollusks include snails and slugs, clams, ...

'' had been published not long before. Descriptions were based on the work of Philippi as well as other contemporary authorities. The profuse black-and-white illustrations of shells were mainly derived from images published elsewhere, with a few additions by Catlow herself. Several of Catlow's books were published by Reeve and Benham, the firm founded by the noted conchologist

Lovell Augustus Reeve Lovell Augustus Reeve (19 April 1814 – 18 November 1865) was an English conchologist and publisher. Life Born at Ludgate Hill, London, on 19 April 1814, he was a son of Thomas Reeve, draper and mercer, by his wife Fanny Lovell. After attendi ...

. Catlow's ''Popular Garden Botany'' (1855) is illustrated by some 20 plates of

Walter Hood Fitch Walter Hood Fitch (28 February 1817 – 1892) was a botanical illustrator, born in Glasgow, Scotland, who executed some 10,000 drawings for various publications. His work in colour lithograph, including 2700 illustrations for ''Curtis's Bot ...

's vigorous, brightly colored paintings of common plants like narcissus, asters and fuchsia. Catlow wrote several books with her sister Maria, including ''Sketching Rambles: Or, Nature in the Alps and Apennines'' (1861), illustrated with sketches by the sisters.

Selected publications

* ''Popular Greenhouse Botany'' (1857) * ''Popular Garden Botany'' (1855) * ''Drops of Water: Their Marvellous and Beautiful Inhabitants Displayed by the Microscope'' (1851) * ''Popular Field Botany'' (1848) * ''The Conchologist's Nomenclator'' (1845)
''Popular Conchology: Or, the Shell Cabinet Arranged According to the Modern System''
(1842)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Catlow, Agnes 1889 deaths 1806 births British science writers Conchologists 19th-century British non-fiction writers 19th-century British women writers