Paris, Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle, 1819. 4to (31.1 x 22.2 cm). 22 pp. [249-270]; one engraved plate [numbered 18]. Disbound.

A seldom-seen paper on scarabs and other insects, their illustrations and symbolic meaning in ancient Egyptian culture. Written by the great French zoologist Pierre André Latreille (1762-1833). Latreille, a renowned entomologist, did not hesitate to identify early illustrations as actual beetle species occurring in Egypt. Published in the fifth volume of the Muséum's Mémoires (not the later reprint mentioned by Horn-Schenkling). Uncut, with the widest possible margins. Some, mostly marginal spotting, otherwise very good, complete. Horn-Schenkling, 12850.