British and European Butterflies and Moths (Macrolepidoptera)

Description:

A late Victorian popular work on the Lepidoptera of Britain and Europe, notable for its exceptional chromolithographic illustrations after drawings by H. Deuchert and S. Slocombe and attractive production quality. The collaboration between the entomologists W. E. Kirby and A. W. Kappel sought to produce, “a work with good illustrations and of reasonable price.”

The plates, text, and binding were all executed by Ernst Nister, the renowned Nuremberg publisher known for his fine colour printing. Each species is described with brief notes on range, habits, and distinguishing features. A charming and decorative example of late 19th-century natural history publishing, combining scientific information with the excellence of continental chromolithography.

Condition

4to, finely bound in cont. qtr morocco by R. Rivière & Son (according to a pencil note to endpaper), gt, aeg, marbled endpapers. A little rubbed. Specially bound, interleaved, copy with some contemporary ink annotations to blank leaves. Light foxing to endpaper. Plates clean and bright. A handsome copy.