Lovell Augustus Reeve (19 April 1814 – 18 November 1865) was an English

conchologist 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 ...

and publisher.

Life

Born at

Ludgate Hill Ludgate Hill is a street and surrounding area, on a small hill in the City of London. The street passes through the former site of Ludgate, a city gate that was demolished – along with a gaol attached to it – in 1760. The area include ...

, London, on 19 April 1814, he was a son of Thomas Reeve, draper and mercer, by his wife Fanny Lovell. After attending school at

Stockwell Stockwell is a district in south west London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. It is situated south of Charing Cross. Battersea, Brixton, Clapham, South Lambeth, Oval and Kennington all border Stockwell. History The na ...

, he was apprenticed at the age of 13 to Mr. Graham, a local grocer. The chance of purchase of some shells led to a lifelong interest in conchology. In 1833 he attended the meeting of the

British Association for the Advancement of Science The British Science Association (BSA) is a charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA). The current Chie ...

at Cambridge. At the end of his apprenticeship Reeve paid a visit to Paris, where he read a paper on the classification of Mollusca before the Academy of Sciences. On his return to London, he set to work on his first book, ''Conchologia Systematica'' (2 vols. London, 1841–2). From 1842, he traded as a natural history dealer. Using profits made by the sale of Dutch Governor-General of the Moluccas Van Ryder's collection from the

Moluccas The Maluku Islands (; Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Maluku'') or the Moluccas () are an archipelago in the east of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located eas ...

, which he purchased at

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

, and with the help of friends, he opened a shop in King William Street,

Strand, London Strand (or the Strand) is a major thoroughfare in the City of Westminster, Central London. It runs just over from Trafalgar Square eastwards to Temple Bar, where the road becomes Fleet Street in the City of London, and is part of the A4 ...

. He was elected a fellow of the

Linnean Society The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...

in 1846 and of the

Geological Society The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe with more than 12,000 Fellows. Fe ...

in 1853, and he was an honorary member of foreign scientific societies. From 1850 to 1856 he was editor and proprietor of the ''

Literary Gazette ''The Literary Gazette'' was a British literary magazine, established in London in 1817 with its full title being ''The Literary Gazette, and Journal of Belles Lettres, Arts, Sciences''. Sometimes it appeared with the caption title, "London Lite ...

''. Around 1848 he moved to Henrietta Street,

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

; and though he subsequently lived elsewhere around London, he returned to live at his place of business in 1864. Reeve died at Covent Garden, 18 November 1865, and was buried at

West Norwood Cemetery West Norwood Cemetery is a rural cemetery in West Norwood in London, England. It was also known as the South Metropolitan Cemetery. One of the first private landscaped cemeteries in London, it is one of the " Magnificent Seven" cemeteries of L ...

. The firm he had started continued publishing between 1858 and 1980, later under the name of 'L. Reeve & Co.'

Bibliography

Reeve was the author of many publications on

mollusc shell The mollusc (or molluskOften spelled mollusk shell in the USA; the spelling "mollusc" are preferred by ) shell is typically a calcareous exoskeleton which encloses, supports and protects the soft parts of an animal in the phylum Mollusca, which ...

s, the best known of which is ''Conchologia iconica'', or, ''Illustrations of the shells of molluscous animals'', which spanned 20 volumes and contained about 27,000 figures. * ''Conchologia iconica, or, Illustrations of the shells of molluscous animals''. London. ** (1843
Volume 1
He also successfully published books by other authors: * W. Lauder Lindsay ''A popular history of British lichens : comprising an account of their structure, reproduction, uses, distribution, and classification'' (xxxii + 352 p.) (1856) *

George Brettingham Sowerby II George Brettingham Sowerby II (1812 – 26 July 1884) was a British naturalist, illustrator, and conchologist. Together with his father, George Brettingham Sowerby I, he published the ''Thesaurus Conchyliorum'' and other illustrated works o ...

''Popular British conchology : A familiar history of the molluscs inhabiting the British Isles'' (1854) *

Thomas Moore Thomas Moore (28 May 1779 – 25 February 1852) was an Irish writer, poet, and lyricist celebrated for his ''Irish Melodies''. Their setting of English-language verse to old Irish tunes marked the transition in popular Irish culture from Irish ...

(1821–1887) en 1855 ''A Popular History of the British Ferns and the Allied Plants'' (1855)

References

External links

Biodiversity Heritage Library
''Conchologia iconica'', or, ''Illustrations of the shells of molluscous animals'' by Lovell Augustus Reeve. London :Reeve, Brothers,1843–1878.
Sydney University Museums
Biography
portrait of Lovell Augustus Reeve
;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Reeve, Lovell Augustus English malacologists Conchologists 1814 births 1865 deaths Scientists from London Burials at West Norwood Cemetery Publishers (people) from London 19th-century English businesspeople