CHINESE ENTOMOLOGY (AND BOTANY)
DONOVAN, Edward.
An epitome of the natural history of the insects of China: comprising figures and descriptions of upwards of one hundred new, singular, and beautiful species; together with some that are of importance in medicine, domestic economy, etc. …
London, Printed for the Author by T. Bensley, 1798[–99].
Large 4to, pp. [4], [94], interleaved with [50] hand-coloured engraved plates (dated 1798 and 1799); short closed tears at head of plate [11] and facing page (repaired with tape), occasional foxing and spotting; overall very good in contemporary strain grained red morocco, gilt border to covers, spine lettered and decorated in gilt, gilt edges, marbled endpapers; some wear to extremities; pencil note to front free endpaper.
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An epitome of the natural history of the insects of China: comprising figures and descriptions of upwards of one hundred new, singular, and beautiful species; together with some that are of importance in medicine, domestic economy, etc. …
First edition of this splendid work devoted to the insects of China by the great natural historian and artist Edward Donovan (1768–1837), including some of the most beautiful of all his plates.
The contents describe and illustrate various beetles, cicadas, butterflies and moths, dragonflies, spiders and centipedes, the plates being described as ‘accurately drawn, engraved, and coloured, from specimens of the insects’, and the accompanying descriptions as ‘arranged according to the system of Linnaeus’.
A pencil note to the flyleaf justly points out the volume’s interest to botanists as well as to entomologists: ‘Often listed as a botanical item & of great interest to the collector of such as in addition to the plates of Chinese flowers there appears one of the first coloured plates of a Camellia … Other flowers include rose, fringed iri, tea blossoms, Chinese lemodoron & nodding renealmia.’
This copy bears ‘F. & C. Rivington, St. Paul’s Church Yard’ added in letterpress within the original imprint. The Rivingtons published Donovan’s subsequent epitomes on the Insects of India (1800) and the Insects of New Holland (1805), and their added imprint here indicates that they acquired and retailed unsold copies of the Insects of China.
Nissen, Zoologische Buchillustration 1143.
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