One of the early Webb books is how I got into shells.  This is probably the
case with many collectors of a certain semi-advanced age.  He was the shell
dealer of the day.  His land snail collections/stock were gleaned from some
of the most important private collections of the time, including that of
Quadras (Philippines mostly).  He traded with others such as Fulton,
Dautzenberg, Everett and so on.  His collections were split up upon his
death and ended up in vitually every museum and many private collections in
the world.  Locality data should be taken with a grain of salt for numerous
reasons, but I believe that he really tried to provide quality specimens
with properly documented data.  Many of his lots were mixed during transit
to other collections.
 
Perhaps someone like the Lipes can help with his history since they live in
the St. Petersburg area.
 
 
Happy New Year!
 
Kurt
 
At 02:40 PM 1/1/99 EST, you wrote:
>Does anyone out there remember a Walter F. Webb. At a garage sale I came
>across a 156 page illustrated price list that must be quite old. The address
>is here in St. Petersburg, however I am not at all familiar with the name.
The
>shell prices certainly do not reflect current values at all. Conus aurantius
>Hwass, 1792 for $2.50  and Cassis tenuis Say ? at $2.50 for instance. Each
>shell listed has a great description and a line drawing to go with each. With
>such an impressive catalog I would take it that he was a dealer of some
>importance. I cannot find a date that this book was published. it simply says
>on the cover "1225 illustrations Fourth Edition, published by WALTER F.WEBB
>2515 SECOND AVENUE NORTH, ST. PETERSBURG 3, FLORIDA .
>
>Just curious as to who this gentleman was or is.
>
>Martin Tremor
>St. Petersburg, FL
>