On the search for a conchological holy grail, the F.H.W. Martini (1729–1778) shell collection - a progress report

The authors have attempted to locate the shell collection of the German conchologist Friedrich Heinrich Wilhelm Martini (1729–1778). Martini often illustrated his own specimens in the Neues Systematisches Conchylien-Cabinet, and thereby many later became referred to as types. For instance, this is true for many species in the Stromboidea described by Röding in 1798. After Martini’s death, at least part of his collection passed to Johann von Mattuschka, and then to the Nathusius family of Hundisburg, near Magdeburg, Sachsen-Anhalt. In 1840 Louis Pfeiffer stated that the Martini collection was still there, after which there is no firm information. Unfortunately, our detective efforts did not uncover the collection’s current existence somewhere unrecognised, but an eyewitness report indicates that it might have been destroyed in the early 1970s. However, there is no certainty yet, and we indicate a few tracks that might still be followed.

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