Today scientists use sophisticated technology to catalogue treasures such as fossils. Items can be laser scanned, enabling us to view the object from any angle, without even touching the specimen. But sometimes you can’t beat an old fashioned illustration.

Neverita duplicata – the drawing exaggerates two protuberances to give a tactile dynamic. Photograph: Courtesy the Natural History Museum, London

Anna Marie Roos, a science historian at the University of Lincoln, has been delving into the archives and pulling out long-forgotten material belonging to Martin Lister – eminent 17th-century naturalist and physician. Historiae Conchyliorum (1685-92) – the first comprehensive study of shells – is one of the treasures she has uncovered. Inside, the volume contains over 1000 exquisite copperplate engravings, crafted by Lister’s daughters, Susanna and Anna, which portray the shells that Lister collected from around the world.

Some of the shells are housed at the Natural History Museum in London, and Roos was able to match up some of Lister’s original specimens with the perfectly scaled illustrations in the book. But she spotted some deliberate artistic license. For example, on the illustration of Neverita duplicata - a shark eye shell - the sisters exaggerated two protuberances on the shell. “These protuberances can usually only be felt by holding the shell, but the illustrations by the Lister sisters have a tactile dynamic so that people can see how the shell will feel,” says Roos, who presented her findings at a conference held at The Royal Society in London in June. An illustration of Melo aetheopica – a large sea snail – is drawn with an altered perspective at one end to enable readers to see the distinctive whorls on the shell. No amount of fancy technology could do a better job.