Natural History of British Butterflies. Vol. I-II

Description:

A classic work based on the author's original observations, illustrating the life stages of all British Butterflies for the first time. Preface is dated 1914, but publication was delayed until after the First World War. F.W. Frohawk (1861-1946) is considered by many to be the finest British butterfly illustrator of all times. Frohawk was the first person to rear every British species of Lepidoptera from eggs to adult (Marren, Rainbow Dust, p.181). The result of this remarkable achievement was the 'Natural History of British Butterflies' (1924), a magisterial two-volume folio work, illustrated with his unrivalled life-size colour drawings of butterflies and their early stages. Its colour plates are the first complete record of all the life stages of British butterflies, together with the habits, times of appearance, and localities. This classic butterfly book took a quarter-century to compile. Although the preface is dated 1914, publication was delayed until after the First World War, as Peter Marren notes: at long last, in 1914, and the age of fifty-three, he had completed the last painting, written the last line, and sent the great work off to his publishers, war was declared. [ ] wartime paper shortages made publication impossible. By the time the war was over people had other things on their minds: publication was delayed a further six years until 1924. (Rainbow Dust, p.185).

In the preface to this book, Lord Rothschild wrote:

"It can truthfully be asserted that Mr. Frohawk’s ‘NHBB’ is a unique publication – unique in many respects. It embodies a new idea in that it contains a complete series of drawings – of truly remarkable excellence – of every phase of the cycle of all of our sixty-eight British butterflies. […] As regards of the letterpress also the book in unique in that it is the only work in any language that contains a complete account of the life history of these sixty-eight insects." (1914)

Condition

2 vols, folio, orig. cloth, gt, minor wear to extremities. Occasional light foxing. Several previous owners' names to endpapers. Vg in orig. worn/torn and neatly repaired d/w's (including along fold between front panel and spine of Vol. I, also with darkened area to inner edge (6cm) of front panel). Included is a set of recent facsimile dust wrappers over the originals.