Dear Michael,

I presume you have the "usual suspects" publications on these three people, so
I'll jump to what may not have presented itself in the literature:

I have studied a sinistral (abnormally-reversed in coil) specimen of the Indian
Chank, and it was probably collected before the twentieth century - possibly by
Calvert himself.  Its ownership passed from the Calvert Collection through
unknown machinations to Maxwell Smith (1888-1961) to the University of Alabama,
to the Florida Museum of Natural History (FLMNH).  To better understand its
history I dug up what I could about the specimen's itinerary on this side of
the puddle.

As you may have read (New York Shell Club Notes 2: 2-3. Jan., 1950), the late
Tony D'Attilio actively worked with the collection from its landfall in NYC in
1939.  He described a collection of almost incredible proportions (300 large
cases; one of which contained 3,000 specimens of Conus), and indicated that
Ehrman [sic] failed in his attempts to sell the entire collection - including a
tender to the city of Baltimore (the Lord of that name was an ancestor of a
succession of the collection's owners; see below).  Considering the extent,
historical, scientific, and plain old conchological value vis a vis the price
Ehrman paid (about $20,00.00 fide Dance, 1986), even the inflation of the US
dollar fails to explain this disconnect.

Anyway, sales of small lots and individual shells continued well into 1940,
when Hugh K. Milliken, bought the remainder (the vast majority of what Ehrman
started with, apparently).  I have a manuscript (2 pp. double-spaced 8.5 X 11
in. typescript; undated, but probably 1940 or 1941) "info-mercial" over
Milliken's by-line which states the collection was begun "in the middle of the
seventeenth century by Lady Ann Arundel, wife of Cecilius Calvert, second Lord
Baltimore, first governor of Maryland..... Although the collection was handed
down from father to son for generations it was not until it came into the
possession of John Calvert, the great grandson of the sixth and last Lord
Baltimore that it reached its present great importance... he was the first to
discover gold in New South Wales and in New Zealand... He explored New Guinea,
the Indian Archpelago [?] and many of the Pacific islands.... On all these
travels he took advantage of every opportunity to increase his collection of
shells... The minerals and gems have been sold separately; the small but
interesting fossil collection and the million or more shells from every country
in the world are now being unpacked little by little so that they may be more
carefully classified and arranged."

Tony worked with Milliken (at 115 East  94th St.) until 1942 with continued
desultory sales (including some to the U. S. National Museum). Shortly
afterward Milliken fell ill, and the collection was transferred to the home of
Milliken's brother in Old Lyme [of Lyme Disease fame], Connecticut.  Later
Heathcote Woolsey bought the collection, and Tony again took measure of it;
that's as much as he wrote in 1950.

How and when Maxwell Smith obtained his Calvert material is unknown to me, but
labels (possibly other archival materials) in the FLMNH may hold some clues.
Smith's collection went to the University of Alabama.  According to R. T.
Abbott (1974 American Malacologists first edition), the University awarded
him a
D. Sci. in return for his benevolence!!

Regrettably the University was unable to maintain the collection, and it was
ceded to the FLMNH in the late 1980's.

Harry


At 05:14 PM 9/16/2002 , you wrote:
>Dear Conchs
>
>I am not a shell collector, nor a conchologist, nor any kind of biologist,
>but I am very interested in the collectors and dealers of shells as part of
>a general study of natural history dealers 1750-1950. In particular the
>London-based dealers Bryce McMurdo Wright snr (1814-1875) and jnr
>(1850-1895) and John Calvert (1825-1897). I am writing a biography of the
>latter and his scurrilous life. Another name is a Mr. F.A. Verkreutzen (or
>Verkruzen) of London whose "extensive" collection of shells ("nearly 20000
>specimens, including over 5000 distinct species") was bought by the
>Nottingham [UK] Free Museum in 1872. (I am Registrar at Nottingham Museums.)
>
>I am curious to know if any list members have come across these people or
>specimens from their dealerships or collections? Calvert's large collection
>languished in London for several decades after his death and was eventually
>brought to New York in 1938 by the American mineral dealer Martin Ehrmann
>(1904-1972).
>
>I'd be interested to hear of any information, no matter how trivial!
>
>thanks
>
>Michael Cooper


Harry G. Lee
Suite 500
1801 Barrs St.
Jacksonville, FL 32204
USA
Voice:  904-384-6419
Fax:  904-388-6750
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Visit the Jacksonville Shell Club Home Page at:
www.jaxshells.org

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