London, William Lay, 1858. 8vo (18.2 x 13.8 cm). xii, 288, [iv] pp.; eight originally hand-coloured plates, the first (unnumbered) acting as frontispiece. Original burgundy blind-stamped cloth with large gilt vignette on the front board, and gilt ornaments and title on the spine. Red endpapers. All edges gilt.

A typically British middle-class-targeting well-illustrated natural history work, published at the height of the mid-Victorian nature study "craze", and characterized by the outstanding plates promoting the study of insects and their metamorphoses, habits, and food. According to Horn-Schenkling " Selten" (Rare). The author, Henry Noel Humphreys (1810-1879), best known, perhaps, for his British Moths and Their Transformations, "was a British illustrator, naturalist, entomologist, and numismatist. Humphreys, who studied medieval manuscripts in Italy as a young man, became an accomplished scholar in numerous subjects. In addition to his entomological texts, Humphreys wrote works on ancient Greek and Roman coins, archaeology, and the art of writing and printing" (Wikipedia). Provenance: bookplate of Edward Habich (the Boston brewer and art collector?) mounted on the front pastedown; old German entomological society stamp on half-title, title, and plate versos, as well as a tiny stamp of the German entomologist Dr Heinz Schröder on the half-title. Otherwise very good, clean. The boards, especially, are very well-preserved. Freeman, British Natural History Books 1495-1900. A Handlist, 1836; Horn-Schenkling, 10964; Nissen ZBI, 2052.