An Interactive Annotated World Bibliography of Printed and Digital Works in the History of Medicine and the Life Sciences from Circa 2000 BCE to 2022 by Fielding H. Garrison (1870-1935), Leslie T. Morton (1907-2004), and Jeremy M. Norman (1945- ) Traditionally Known as “Garrison-Morton”

15961 entries, 13944 authors and 1935 subjects. Updated: March 22, 2024

LISTER, Martin

8 entries
  • 12766

Historia animalium angliae tres tractatus. Unus de araneis. Alter de cochleis tum terrestribus tum fluviatilibus. Tertius de cochleis marinis. Quibus adjectus est quartus de lapidibus eiusem insulae ad cochlearum quandam imaginem figuratis. Memoriae & rationi.

London: Joh. Martyn Regiae Societatis Typographum, 1678.

Lister was the first arachnologist and conchologist. This work was the first organized, systematic publication on shells. In spite of the wording of the title, the work contains four sections on spiders, land snails, freshwater and saltwater molluscs, and fossil shells.  In the first section Lister wrote of the many mistakes of previous authors writing on Arachnidae, to their venom and their use (!) in therapy. He provided a classification of British spiders preceding the second chapter of the first part, describing the different species of spiders according to their aspect and their alimentary habits. An appendix to this work was published in 1681.
Digital facsimile from Biodiversity Heritage Library at this link.



Subjects: ZOOLOGY › Arthropoda, ZOOLOGY › Arthropoda › Arachnology, ZOOLOGY › Malacology
  • 12769

Historia sive synopsis methodicae conchyliorum quorum omnium picturae, ad vivum delineata, exhibetur.

London: Sumptibus authoris, 16851692.

"He [Lister] had created a small version of this book for circulation to friends in 1685, but almost immediately began work on an expanded version which was produced from 1685 to 1692. This copy had 490 pages, with 1062 engraved copper plates, showing 2000 figures of molluscs.

"The illustrations were the work of two of his daughters Susanna (1670-1738) and Anna (1671–1704). Their father had encouraged their drawing abilities, and they would have used the shells in his collection, or those sent by friends such as Sir Hans Sloane, from which to make their drawings. They were also responsible for etching or engraving the plates on copper and it is generally assumed that the printing was done by the family at home, rather than taken to a professional printing firm.

"The publication of the first edition of Historiae Conchyliorum was a lengthy and laborious undertaking, it is an impressive feat for anyone to be involved in, but even more so for  Susanna and Anna as it is thought that they were between the ages of 13 and 15 when production began. It was initially published in four books, or parts, and then a second, complete, edition was produced almost immediately and became available in 1697.

"In 1712 Lister bequeathed the original copper plates to the Ashmolean Museum, and in 1770, the curator of the Museum, William Huddesford, published a third edition of the book. He reprinted the illustrations from the original plates, included additional notes from Lister’s manuscript, and dedicated it to the famous shell collector, the Duchess of Portland.

"A final edition was produced in 1823, which included an index by Lewis Weston Dillwyn (1778-1855), the porcelain manufacturer whose shell collection is now housed in the Museum zoology department. This edition includes the notes from the Huddesford version and identifications of the species and remarks by the compiler. It is technically the fourth edition but is known generally as the third" (https://museum.wales/blog/2018-03-08/Listers-Historiae-Conchyliorum-a-seventeenth-century-shell-book/, accessed 5-2020).

Issued in parts; the collation of copies vary.



Subjects: ZOOLOGY › Malacology
  • 12767

Exercitatio anatomica, in qua de cochleis, maxime terrestribus & limacibus, agitur. Omnium dissectiones tabulis aeneis, ad ispsas res assabre incisis, illustrantur.

London: Sam. Smith & Benj. Walford, 1694.

First anatomical supplement to the Historia conchyliorum. This was the first separate work devoted to snails. Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.



Subjects: ZOOLOGY › Malacology
  • 12768

Exercitatio anatomica altera de buccinis fluviatilibus et marinis. Issued bound with: Exercitatio medicinalis de variolis.

London: Sam. Smith & Benj. Walford, 1695.

The first work was intended as the second anatomical supplement to Lister's Historia conchyliorum.



Subjects: ZOOLOGY › Malacology
  • 12770

Conchyliorum bivalvium utriusque aquae exercitatio anatomica tertia, huic accedit dissertatio medicinalis de calculo humano.

London: Sumptibus authoris impressa, 1696.

Third anatomical supplement to Lister's Historia concyliorum.



Subjects: ZOOLOGY › Malacology
  • 8592

A journey to Paris in the year 1698.

London: Jacob Tonson, 1698.

Includes observations of natural history collections, estates and libraries of Parisians, and commentary on science, art, food, wine, medicine, and more. Late in 1697, William Bentinck, Lord Portland, was sent on a diplomatic mission to Paris, and Lister accompanied him as physician. Lister's duties left him ample time to meet and talk with other intellectuals, to see their collections and gardens, and to explore the city. Digital facsimile of the first of three 1699 editions from the Internet Archive at this link. Edited reprint, with annotations, a life of Lister and a Lister bliography, by Raymond Phineas Stearns (Urbana, IL, 1967). 



Subjects: NATURAL HISTORY, Travels by Physicians, Surgeons & Scientsts
  • 11681

Dr. Martin Lister: A bibliography by Geoffrey Keynes, Kt.

Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press, 1981.


Subjects: BIBLIOGRAPHY › Bibliographies of Individual Authors, BIBLIOGRAPHY › Bibliographies of Natural History
  • 12980

The correspondence of Dr. Martin Lister (1639-1712). Volume one: 1662-1677. Edited and translated by Anna Marie Roos.

Leiden & Boston: Brill, 2015.


Subjects: BIOGRAPHY (Reference Works) › Biographies of Individuals › Edited Correspondence & Archives, NATURAL HISTORY › History of Natural History