Benjamin Wilkes | One hundred and twenty copper-plates of English moths and butterflies, 1773 [plates on later paper, some watermarked 1814 or 1815]

Benjamin Wilkes

One hundred and twenty copper-plates of English moths and butterflies. London: Benjamin White, 1773 [plates on later paper, some watermarked 1814 or 1815]

4to (301 x 252 mm.), 119 hand-coloured engraved plates (of 120, lacking plate 122), contemporary straight-grained red morocco gilt, gilt edges, marbled endpapers, plates CVI, CVII, and CXI shaved at upper margin, repairs to plate CXVI, plate CXX frayed at outer margin, splitting at final gathering

This important treatise on entomology by the artist and naturalist Benjamin Wilkes (died circa 1749) stemmed from an invitation to the Aurelian Society, where Wilkes first encountered large collections of butterflies and moths. He formed a significant collection of his own in Fleet Street, London, which was open to the public. This is the second edition of his work, which had subscribers including Joseph Dandridge and Dr Christopher Jacob Trew, and shows moths and butterflies amongst attractively depicted flora. 

LITERATURE:

Nissen ZBI 4410a