BRITISH ENTOMOLOGY by JOHN CURTIS, F.L.S. 1828 - 1840 Printed For the Author - LONDON Being ILLUSTRATIONS and DESCRIPTIONS of the GENERA of INSECTS Found in Great Britain and Ireland Containing COLOURED FIGURES From NATURE of the MOST RARE and BEAUTIFUL SPECIES, and in Many Instances of the PLANTS on Which They are Found Curtis’ BRITISH ENTOMOLOGY was published in monthly sections between 1823 through 1840 and was initially bound in 16 volumes. The first issue included an initial list of only103 subscribers that sponsored the work, and this number later rose to just under 200. Given the very small number of subscribers, in conjunction with the use of copper plates (with images printed on a special “rye paper”) that constrains the number of total prints to several hundred, and the superb rendering and quality of the handcoloring and illustrations, it is easy to understand why Curtis’s publication is such an extremely rare, valuable and highly-respected antiquarian work! John Curtis’ BRITISH ENTOMOLOGY is considered by many to be the finest 19th century work on the subject and perhaps the finest such work ever produced! See EXQUISITE DETAIL Above! SIXTEEN volumes of BRITISH ENTOMOLOGY were published by the famous and gifted engraver and entomologist, John CURTIS, between 1823 and 1840. The entire set includes a total of 770 finely engraved HAND-COLORED plates of insect species depicted alongside an associated plant or flower. A page or two of important textual information providing the name and details of the insect, and the associated plant or flower, are provided alongside the ONE-OF-A-KIND and SUPERB hand-colored COPPER PLATE engravings. Upon completion of the 16 volume project, the illustration plates and associated descriptive text were arranged systematically and bound in pairs, with a total of 8 volumes in the set. Thus, the 8-volume sets, with 2 volumes bound as one, group the species together with others in the same taxon. Although the plate and text number is the same in both the 16 and 8 volume sets (the complete work contains 770 species), the 8-volume works have plate numbers out of numerical order, but with related insect species grouped together in the same volume. The illustrations and descriptions in BRITISH ENTOMOLOGY included many new species, including dozens that Curtis himself had discovered. The accuracy and fine details of wing veination, antennae, legs and other appendages, body hairs, ratio of morphological structures, etc, given the minute size of the insects that he described and illustrated...and the constraints of the magnifying instruments available nearly two centuries ago....should be a source of amazement and wonder to anyone who connects the artistic, exquisite beauty of Curtis’ hand-colored engravings to the scientific contributions they portray. John Curtis (1791-1862) was one of the finest insect illustrators of the 19th Century! Indeed, the famous French naturalist Georges CUVIER (1769-1832) described Curtis’ work as ....le parangon de la perfection...the paragon of perfection! The Curtis volume provided here is Volume III of the 8-volume set, and thus includes species descriptions and their respective plates published previously in numerical sequence during the period 1823 to 1840 in the 16-volume books. This volume contains Curtis’ information that includes the Dermaptera (earwigs), Dictyoptera (cockroaches), Orthoptera (grasshoppers, crickets, etc.), Strepsiptera (twisted-winged insects), and the Hymenoptera (bees, ants, and wasps). This copy of Curtis’ BRITISH ENTOMOLOGY is an ORIGINAL of this rare and valuable work, published for the author over 150 years ago! It contains 93 hand-colored copper plate engravings with their associated textual pages, with considerable coverage of the Hymenoptera with an emphasis on gall-forming and the smaller parasitic (parasitoid) species. A SYSTEMATIC INDEX at the back of the volume indicates the various taxa and species that are included. CONDITION: The binding is firm, there are no loose plates and essentially little to no foxing of plates or pages throughout. The original covers with leather corners and spine are worn and frayed, and the back board has nearly separated. The inside covers and flyleaf are wonderfully marbled. The 90+ SINGLE-SIDED PLATES are OUTSTANDING! DIMENSIONS: Plates & Pages = 5 inches X 8 inches (146 mm X 202 mm) Excepting the Condition of the Cover Boards as Noted Above, this is a SUPERB, EXTRA-NICE copy of a QUITE RARE COLLECTOR’S ITEM! John Curtis’ BRITISH ENTOMOLOGY is considered by many to be the finest 19th century work on the subject and possibly the finest such work ever produced! It was published in monthly sections between 1823 through 1840 and initially bound as 16 separate volumes. The first issue included an initial list of only 103 subscribers that sponsored the work, and this number later rose to just under 200. Given this very small number of subscribers, in conjunction with the use of copper plates for the engravings in the production of the highest quality of illustrations and coloring, it is easy to understand why Curtis’s BRITISH ENTOMOLOGY is an extremely rare and valuable antiquarian work!

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