Natural History of British Butterflies. Vol. I-II

Description:

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, P., 2015). 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 (2015) 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.’

Marren, P., 2015, Rainbow Dust.

Condition

2 vols, folio, orig. cloth, gilt. Some minor foxing to edges otherwise clean. Vg set in orig. d/w's (d/w's worn and torn with some loss to spines; Vol. I with stain to front and rear panels; in protective sleeves). Good clean set. Rare, especially in dust wrappers.