Illustrations Of British Entomology; Or, A Synopsis Of Indigenous Insects; Containing Their Generic And Specific Distinctions; With An Account Of Their Metamorphoses, Times Of Appearance, Localities, Food, And Economy, As Far As Practicable James Francis Stephens Entomology/Insects,Natural History

A good copy of the full 12 volume set issued between 1828 and 1846 with 95 hand-coloured plates by Curtis and Westwood. The set is in contemporary half leather bindings with marbled board and spines with gilt titles and lining. The marbling varies slightly between volumes. It is likely to be the publisher's binding because we have seen it in several volumes and sets previously. Most of the bindings have fraying and some loss to spine ends and corners; some have surface scuffing and small areas of leather loss on the spine; and some have some splitting at the spine joints - usually in the top or bottom spine compartment. However, all the boards are attached and the bindings are currently sound. They were in the ownership of George West - a lecturer in Botany and author of 'Practical Principles of Plain Photo Micrography' (1916), and have his ownership stamp to the front pastedown endpaper. He was a keen entomologist and has added scholarly pencil annotations, frequently cross referencing with other works and providing additional indexing. Contents are complete and sound and the plates are generally very clean and well coloured. Some volumes have some foxing to text and some text pages are more toned than others. Overview: Mandibulata: Vols 1- 7 with 38 plates; Haustellata Vols 1-4 with 41 plates; Supplement with 16 plates. 2 plates listed in Mandibulata 7 are bound in the Supplement. Plate numbers vary between arabic and latin numerals. This was Stephens' major work and despite occupying at least 20 years of his time, and considerable resources, was not completed. It is of interest that it contains the first printed references to Charles Darwin, who sent Stephens some specimens, and was delighted to see his name and most of his descriptions in print. Please enquire if you would like a detailed description of each volume and further images.