First edition of a beautiful, complete set of an important scientific work on insects, with 70 contemporary hand-coloured plates. It describes the Cicadidea and Heteroptera found in all parts of the world, especially in Suriname, Indonesia, South Africa and the Coromandel coast. It is the first serious scientific work ever published on insects of the order of Hemiptera. The illustrations, which show more than 450 insects in great detail, form the main part of the work and are accompanied by descriptions in Dutch and French. The hand-colouring is exceptionally beautiful and done with great precision, and all is presented on thick hand-made paper. These two tomes, gathered here in one volume, were written by entomologist Casper Stoll (ca. 1725-1793) and were later followed by a work about grasshoppers. They were originally published in monthly instalments. The present works are commonly bound together. In the present copy, they are preceded by the very rare cancelled title-page, with the year 1780, and the general introduction. Stoll was the first entomologist to devote himself to Hemiptera and used Linnaeus' classification to categorise them. His work was lauded for its accuracy and beauty of colouring. The work describes the Cicadidae and true bugs in all parts of the world, many from Surinam, the Cape Province, and the Coromandel coast. Caspar Stoll was the first entomologist to devote himself almost entirely to Hemiptera. The two frontispieces are particularly attractive and show a wreath of flowers with insects. Caspar Stoll was born in Hessen-Kassel between 1725 and 1730 and lived in The Hague and later in Amsterdam. William V of Orange-Nassau was the godfather of two of his children. He was "Commies ter Admiraliteit" in Amsterdam and published several works on entomology. Jan Christiaan Sepp (1739-1811) was a bookseller and publisher and his publishing house produced some of the finest Dutch natural history colour-plate books of the 18th century. Apart from that he was an entomologist, artist and engraver and wrote, with his father, a large work on Dutch insects, which he also illustrated. He also illustrated the above two works. The first work depicts 173 insects on 29 plates and the second volume depicts 298 insects on 41 plates. The text is in Dutch and French. The illustrations were likely made by Jan Christiaan Sepp (1739-1811), who also published the work. He was an artist, entomologist and publisher who specialised in natural history works. He produced some of the finest Dutch natural history colour-plate books of the 18th century. The idea was to combine accuracy and artistry: ''''By de voortzetting van dit zindelyk uitgevoerde Werk, ontvangt men hier weder een aantal van keurlyke Afbeeldingen van etlyke Insecten deezer soorte, met derzelver beschryvinge; het welk deeze Verzameling, die reeds tot 140 beschreeven en afgebeelde Insecten opklimt, van tyd tot tyd gewigtiger maakt; daar ze ons Insecten, die anders veelal min geagt, en meerendeels als over ’t hoofd gezien worden, in derzelver kunstryke gestalte, duidelyk onder ’t oog brengt, en naauwkeurig beschryft.''' ('''By the continuation of this well‑executed work, we receive here again a number of select figures (illustrations) of certain insects of this kind, with their descriptions; which makes this collection, already rising to 140 described and depicted insects, more significant from time to time; for it brings to our attention insects which otherwise are much disregarded, and mostly overlooked, clearly in their artistic form, and accurately described.”'''') And great detail, as for example in this description of the bedbug /Weegluis / Bedwantz ''''Dit Insect, zegt de Heer Stoll, is in ’t algemeen bekent onder de benaaming van Weegluis, Wandluis, en Bedwantz, … De jonge Wantz, eerst uit het Ey gekomen, is byna wit; na de eerste verhuiding worden zy bruin, en volwassen zynde hebben ze eene bruinroode koleur. … Het agterlyf is eirond, en bestaat uit agt Ringen: … aan den eersten Ring vindt men, in plaats der Vleugelen, twee langwerpige, platte hoornagtige deelen … De Pooten zyn aan de Dyen dik, doch de Schenkels en Beenen dun; …” And on posture, for the Spooken, mantises: '''On pose / posture in the “Spooken” / Mantises etc.: *“Onder deezen is ook het Wandelende Blad … omtrent welke benaaming de Autheur de volgende Aanmerking heeft. ‘Deze Benaaming komt welligt daarvan, dat allen van dit Geslacht, in den rustenden stand, den Kop en het Borststuk regt opwaarts houden, en de twee Vangpooten als zaamgevouwen tegens elkander en in de hoogte plaatzen.’ [Waardoor dit Insect alsdan eenigermaate eene biddende gestalte heeft …]” '''Among these is also the Walking Leaf … about which the author makes the following remark. ‘This name perhaps comes from the fact that all of this genus, when resting, hold the head and thorax upright, and place their two grasping forelegs folded against each other and lifted in height.’ [Whereby this insect then somewhat has a praying posture …]”''' So not just anatomy but posture, behaviour (or how the insect holds itself) is part of what the illustrations aim to capture. This demonstrates how a single plate is accompanied by detailed morphological description: colour change through life stages, structure of the body (“agt Ringen”, “boven rond doch onder plat”), etc. A fine copy in a lovely 19th century full calf binding. The binding shows some wear to the spine and front joint, but is holding well. Small and heavy folio: With 70 hand-coloured plates of insects, and a hand-coloured floral frontispiece at the start of each part. Pages: 124; 172 pp. Comprising: (1) Natuurlyke en naar 't leeven naauwkeurig gekleurde afbeeldingen en beschryvingen der cicaden, in alle vier waerelds deelen Europa, Asia, Africa en America huishoudende, by een verzameld en beschreeven. /Représentation exactement colorée d'après nature des cigales, qui se trouvent dans les quatre parties du monde, l'Europe, l'Asie, l'Afrique et l'Amerique rassemblées et décrites. (2) Natuurlyke en naar 't leeven naauwkeurig gekleurde afbeeldingen en beschryvingen der wantzen, in alle vier waerelds deelen Europa, Asia, Africa en America huishoudende, by een verzameld en beschreeven. /Représentation exactement colorée d'après nature des punaises, qui se trouvent dans les quatre parties du monde, l'Europe, l'Asie, l'Afrique et l'Amerique. REFERENCES Horn, W. & Schenkling, S. Index Litteraturae Entomologicae. Serie 1. Die Welt‑Literatur über die gesamte Entomologie bis inklusive 1863 (Berlin‑Dahlem, 1929), entry no. 21554 Nissen, C. ZBI – Geschichte der Zoologischen Buchillustration. Berlin: Verlag Gebrüder Borntraeger. (ZBI = Zoological Book Illustrations). In Nissen’s list, Stoll’s Cicaden en Wantzen appears under ZBI numbers 3999 and 4000. John Landwehr, Studies in Dutch Books with Coloured Plates Published 1662-1875: Natural History, Topography and Travel Costumes and Uniforms (1976), number 191.