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Vanessa and Cynthia Butterflies wonderful antique print c1849.

Vanessa and Cynthia Butterflies wonderful antique print c1849.

by Humphreys, H.N.

Red Admiral Butterfly with Cynthia Butterflies antique print.
Insects. 1.Vanessa Atlanta (Red Admiral Butterfly), 2.under-side, 3. Caterpillar, 4. Chrysalis, 5. Cynthia Hunters, 6. under-side, 7. Cynthia Cardue, 8. underside, 9. Caterpillar, 10. Chrysalis.
Plants. 1 & 2 Urtica dioica (Stinging Nettle), 3. Cnicus lanceolatus (Spear-plum Thistle).

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.

Humphreys (1810-1879), was a British naturalist, entomologist, illustrator - and numismatist. His presentation of the butterflies with caterpillar and chrysalis, impressed curators at the British Museum, who adopted this method of illustrating the transformation lifecycle of insects. Humphreys' artwork echos the exquisite medieval manuscripts he studied in Italy when a young man. He wrote: “The study of natural history is the learning of the characters with which the wonderful story of nature is written.. 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.”

Page size is 285 x 210mm (11.25 x 8.25 inches). Light marks on this page and image slightly off-centre on the page.

Stock Number: apHNH15Price: $70.00

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