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Shell collecting is one of the oldest and most accessible forms of natural history collecting. One of the greatest collectors in the field was a British naturalist whose name is little remembered today: here we look back on the life and work of Hugh Cuming who, close to 200 years ago, set out to find more shells than anyone ever had before. Modern shell collectors still use many of the same techniques employed by Cuming, chiefly relying on careful examination of new locations, combined with the employment of cutting-edge technologies and collecting tools.