Comma and Tortoiseshell butterflies, chrysalis, caterpillar. Antique print c1860.

by Humphreys, H.N.

Superb butterflies lithograph. Vanessa Alba (Comma), Great Tortoise-shell (V. Polychloros), V. Urticae (small Tortoiseshell) - on Red Currant, Elm and Stinging Nettle.

Original hand-coloured lithograph arranged and illustrated by H.N. Humphreys Esq., with characters and descriptions by J. O. Westwood, Esq. F.L.S. (secretary of the Entomological Society), for British Butterflies and their Transformations published in London c1849.

Having spent years in Italy studying Greek and Roman coins, archaelogy, exquisite medieval manuscripts and the art of writing and printing, Humphreys' representation of the lifecycle transformations of butterflies and moths with caterpillar, chrysalis and their host plants was commended by the Curators and adopted at the British Museum. The exquisite medieval manuscripts he studied in Italy are surely reflected in his beautiful illustrations of nature. Humphreys wrote about natural history, “.. cannot conceive a more pleasing and natural introduction to its general study than entomology, of which I think the division of Lepidoptera.. the most easy and attractive section.  H. N. Humphreys, Esq.”