[FIRST EDITION] F. Edward Hulme - Butterflies & Moths of the Country-Side [35 COLOURED PLATES] - 1903

DESCRIPTION: I present at auction a truly dazzling and highly prestigious first edition: "Butterflies & Moths of the Country-Side," written and illustrated by the renowned British naturalist, botanist, and artist F. Edward Hulme (1841–1909), a member of the Linnean Society and the Society of Antiquaries.

Published in London in 1903 by Hutchinson & Co. as part of the distinguished The Woburn Library of Natural History collection, this Victorian/Edwardian gem stands out for its majestic visual section, gathering 35 magnificent chromolithographic plates in color designed directly by the author himself, vividly and accurately capturing butterflies, moths, caterpillars, and chrysalises in their natural botanical habitat.

ILLUSTRATIONS AND ARTISTIC DISPLAY:

+ 35 Spectacular Chromolithographic Plates off Text (Plates Hors-Texte): Printed with extraordinary color fidelity and a beautiful period texture. Each plate features detailed botanical and entomological compositions.
+ Luxury Editorial Binding: Preserved in its original dark green cloth of the period with rich gilt tooling on the upper board and spine, decorated with embossed butterfly and insect motifs in gold.
+ Two-Color Cover (Red and Black): Elegant Edwardian typographic design printed in the London Paternoster Row workshops.

The plates of this work stand out for their exceptional scientific rigor and artistic value, masterfully combining entomology and ornamental botany:

+ Diurnal Lepidoptera Plates (Butterflies): Rendered with great anatomical detail, as seen in the compositions dedicated to Papilio machaon (old world swallowtail), the Orange-tips (Gonepteryx rhamni), the fritillaries, and the colorful Nymphalids with their characteristic ocelli and yellow and brown tones distributed harmoniously across the plate.
+ Nocturnal Lepidoptera and Moths Plates: Notably the representations of the famous Death's-head Hawkmoth (Acherontia atropos), meticulously illustrated along with its larval host plant (the Solanaceae), its yellow-toned with dark diagonal stripes caterpillar, and the subterranean chrysalis. Also featuring splendid specimens of saturniids with eye patterns on the wings and moths of crepuscular habits.
+ Botanical Integration and Biological Cycles: Unlike purely typological catalogs, each plate functions as a living naturalist vignette. The butterflies and moths are shown interacting with wild and cultivated flowers (such as nasturtiums), accompanied by their complete developmental stages: microscopic eggs, segmented larvae or caterpillars, pupal stages, and the adult imago.

PROVENANCE OF BRITISH ARISTOCRATIC HERITAGE
Ex-Libris Engraving by Sir Herbert Maxwell: Preserved on the inner endpapers is a beautiful full-page bookplate belonging to Sir Herbert Eustace Maxwell, 7th Baronet of Monreith (1845–1937), renowned Scottish politician, naturalist, antiquarian, and writer, with the motto "Liber Herberto Custacio Maxwell, Baronetto de Monreith, dilectus" and the family crest flanked by stags.

PUBLICATION YEAR: London (England, United Kingdom) 1903. 1st EDITION
LANGUAGE: English (Original Version)
SIZE AND PAGES: Dimensions: 27 x 21 cm. Pagination: [2] + Cover + XX + 300 pp. COMPLETE WORK WITH 35 BEAUTIFUL COLOR PLATES
CONDITION: Original green cloth library binding in good overall condition, with some wear as shown in the photos. Flat spine decorated with gold figures and the title in gold. The interior is in good condition, as shown in the photos.
RARE FIRST EDITION. DO NOT LET IT ESCAPE.

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