The metamorphosis of butterflies and moths, coloured by a contemporary hand

L'Admiral, Jacob. Naauwkeurige waarneemingen omtrent de veranderingen van veele insekten of gekorvene diertjes.

$9,228.00

The second, greatly enlarged edition of a set of finely etched and engraved plates, hand-painted, depicting the metamorphosis of 70 sorts of butterflies, moths and other flying insects in their natural surroundings, the specimens collected, drawn and engraved, and the descriptions written by Jacob l'Admiral (1700-70), first published in 1740 with only 25 plates. The present edition adds eight plates prepared (along with their descriptive text) by l'Admiral but not previously published, along with a two-page foreword by the editor, Martinus Houttuyn (1720-98). Most plates show the species as egg, larva, pupa and adult, both male and female, placed on the plants they frequent in their natural habitat. Scientifically it was a great advance over all that went before, including the pioneering work of Maria Sibylla Merian.

The present foreword tells us that l'Admiral began studying butterflies at the age of ten and gives Houttuyn's personal recollections of l'Admiral and his work. He collected the specimens during thirty years of travel and intended the first edition with 25 plates to be one of four parts for a total of 100 plates. He finished only eight additional plates before his death in 1770 and had not yet published them or his descriptions. After l'Admiral's death the bookseller Sluyter bought all the copper plates at auction, and Houttuyn prepared the new descriptions from l'Admiral's manuscript. A few plates were revised after the first edition, probably by l'Admiral himself. Plate XII depicts a tulip.