
Lot 2•
ALBIN (ELEAZAR) A Natural History of English Insects. Illustrated with a Hundred Copper Plates, Curiously Engraven from Life: And (for those who desire it) Exactly Coloured by the Author Eleazar Albin, Painter, first edition, for the Author, 1720
14 June 2017, 13:00 BST
London, KnightsbridgeSold for £2,375 inc. premium
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ALBIN (ELEAZAR)
A Natural History of English Insects. Illustrated with a Hundred Copper Plates, Curiously Engraven from Life: And (for those who desire it) Exactly Coloured by the Author Eleazar Albin, Painter, first edition, 100 hand-coloured engraved plates after drawings by the author, each with accompanying text leaf by W. Derham, list of subscribers, plates 51-100 numbered neatly in ink to the upper right corner of the plate, light soiling to a few plates, contemporary calf, rebacked in calf gilt with morocco lettering label [Nissen ZBI 58; Freeman 45; Lisney 119], 4to (288 x 228mm.), for the Author, 1720
Footnotes
"Each plate is dedicated to a subscriber or well-known personality, undoubtedly those who acted as patrons or took an interest in Albin's drawings of insects" (Lisney). Albin was keen to stress that his work was accurate in its depictions as he "observed it as a great fault in those who have gone before... that they either did not look often enough at their Pattern, or affected to make the picture outdo Nature" (Preface).