| Description | nd, (1859), imp 8vo, xii-64 pages, engraved title-page handcoloured depicting three extreme varieties of the Small Tortoiseshell and Small Copper with lettering in gold but page rather browned, 32 beautifully handcoloured lithographic plates each showing one or more species of butterflies many with pupae and larvae and all on a background of plants, flowers and grasses, original red cloth binding decorated with scrollwork and figures of butterflies on the front covers, early presentation inscription on front-end paper, a few neat handwritten annotations in text, very slight browning of some early plates just in margins but otherwise plates and colouring clean and fresh, published by Paul Jerrard. The bright and clear colouring on the plates is unusual in that the colouring on the normal standard edition tends to be limited to the images of insects and plants. This copy has more intense colouring and with a background sky and ground filled in. It is not, however, as garish as the occasionally found presentation edition by the same publisher. With the artistic composition of flowers and plants as a background to the butterflies these illustrations represent a beautiful example of Victorian book production |
