John,

As it doesn't look like a crowd is going to jump on this, I'll give it a
try.  For general collecting you have just a few more books that are
available and still useful.  First would be Abbott and Dances "Compendium of
Seashells."  This book has over 4,000 species illustrated.  Next (tougher to
find) would be Eisenberg's "A Collector's Guide to Seashells of the World."
Both books have their share of errors as both are a couple of decades old.
But they are good starting points and each has pluses and minus.  After
these two (there are still many other general books, and if you stay with
this hobby or avocation you will add them eventually), you will need to
specialize in areas: shells of the Red Sea, shells of the Philippines,
shells of Vietnam, shells of Europe, shells of... fill in the blank.  If you
become interested in one family or a few families, there are also plenty of
books limited to a specific family: Muricidae, Cassididae, Mitridae,
Cypraeidae, Conidae, etc...

(too long, cont'd next message)

Tom Eichhorst

-----Original Message-----
From: Conchologists List [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of
John Varner
Sent: Wednesday, February 15, 2006 6:08 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: shell ID books


I am looking to upgrade my shell collecting library.  I have the Peterson
and Simon & Schuster guides and Abbott's Compendiums of Land and
Seashells.  Does anyone have any suggestions for additional identification
books or internet sources for shell ID info?
-John Varner

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