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William Keith Emerson

American malacologist

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 20, 2026
Entity authorityQ8013886 ↗
Source-derived summary

William Keith Emerson (May 1, 1925 – October 19, 2016), usually known as Bill Emerson, was an American malacologist, a biologist who studied mollusks. He was a Curator Emeritus at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City where he had been a curator since 1955. He was also Chairman of the Department of Living Invertebrates and head of the Malacology section for several decades.

Books

Emerson has written numerous scientific publications and several popular shell books including:

The American Museum of Natural History Guide to Shells: Land, Freshwater, and Marine from Nova Scotia to Florida by William K. Emerson and Morris K. Jacobson, 1976, Alfred A. Knopf

Shells by William K. Emerson, Andreas Feininger, Hardcover, Thames and Hudson, ISBN 0-500-54008-X (0-500-54008-X)

Shells from Cape Cod to Cape May: With Special Reference to the New York City Area by Morris K. Jacobson, William K. Emerson, Softcover, Dover Pubns, ISBN 0-486-25419-4 (0-486-25419-4)

Wonders of Barnacles by William K. Emerson, Arnold Ross, Hardcover, Dodd, Mead, ISBN 0-396-06971-1 (0-396-06971-1)

Wonders of the World of Shells: Sea, Land, and Fresh-Water by Morris K. Jacobson, William K. Emerson, Hardcover, Dodd, Mead, ISBN 0-396-06326-8 (0-396-06326-8)

References

External links

2,400 years of Malacology info here (search for Emerson in the appropriate section)

Bio at the American Museum of Natural History

Further reading

H. S. Gordon, 1960. Conchological Interviews – Part I. William K. Emerson at the American Museum of Natural History. New York Shell Club Notes 64: 4-6

W. K. Emerson, 1975. The malacological collection of the American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York. New York Shell Club Notes 208: 2

Anonymous, 1988. Honors to Dr. William K. Emerson.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “William Keith Emerson” as american malacologist. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around William, Keith and Emerson.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1925, 2016, 1955, 1976—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1925-01-01. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with William, Keith and Emerson providing the first useful test.
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A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “William Keith Emerson”, the useful work is to connect “american malacologist” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q8013886. VIAF identifies the subject as 42372553. The Library of Congress control number is n50012449. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1925, 2016, 1955 and 1976.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “William Keith Emerson” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.