Mawe, John

John Mawe was a British conchologist who published a well received guide on shell collecting. Shell collecting reached its apex in England during the late 18th and early and middle 19th centuries. This was the period of the burgeoning Pacific and China trade; new islands were being discovered, and the shells found there were first imported as curiosities, later as specimens for the collectors among the newly rich merchant princes. This period reached its highest point in the 1850s and ’60s, when shell auctions became a common occurrence and relatively high prices were paid for particularly rare and perfect specimens.