Stuttgart, Kernen Verlag, 1909-1954. 20 volumes in 29. 4to (31.5 x 25.0 cm). Text and 1,458 chromolithographed plates. Uniform publisher's - and later, matching half calf. Spines with gilt ornamental bands, gilt lepidopterological vignettes, and coloured shield with gilt titles.

A complete, bound set of the rarer and more sought-after English edition of this important standard work on Macrolepidoptera. Its fine plates were made using the process of 10- to 14-colour lithography, and its excellent quality has remained unsurpassed. The editor, Friedrich Joseph Adalbert Seitz (1860-1938), planned to finish the whole work in 1912. This proved to be quite unrealistic as publication stopped in 1954, and several volumes remained unfinished. The most important collections of butterflies were consulted, including those of L. W. Rothschild of Tring, the British Museum, the Paris Natural History Museum, the Senckenberg Museum at Frankfurt, as well as collections in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Australia, and South- and North America. The work was published in 16 volumes with four supplements and is composed as follows: Volumes 1-4, Palaearctic Fauna with four supplements; Volumes 5-8, American Fauna (Volumes 7 and 8 remained unfinished); Volumes 9-12, Indo-Australian Fauna (Volumes 11 and 12 remained unfinished); Volumes 13-16 African Fauna (Volumes 15 and 16 remained unfinished). The bindings are near uniform; the shields are of a different colour depending on the region covered. We are selling this set on behalf of a private customer, the set is in the USA, therefore, shipping could be a lot less or a bit more then expected. Cat. BM(NH), p. 1895; Nissen ZBI, 3799Na. NOTE: we have more parts of The Macrolepidoptera of the World. Please inquire.