Exposition of English Insects First Edition - Moses Harris - Bauman Rare Books

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Bauman Rare Books

Exposition of English Insects

Moses HARRIS

Item#: 59233 We're sorry, this item has been sold

Exposition of English Insects

Exposition of English Insects

Exposition of English Insects

Exposition of English Insects

Exposition of English Insects

“THE BEST PAINTER AND ENGRAVER OF INSECTS OF HIS DAY”: MOSES HARRIS’ EXPOSITION OF ENGLISH INSECTS, 1782, WITH 51 EXQUISITE HAND-COLORED COPPER-ENGRAVED PLATES

HARRIS, Moses. Exposition of English Insects. London: Mr. White, 1782. Quarto, original marbled boards rebacked and recornered in green straight-grain morocco gilt, raised bands, uncut.

Third edition, with one plain and 51 delicately hand-colored copper-engraved plates of nearly 500 illustrations of insects, entirely drawn and colored by Harris. In original boards, entirely uncut—a lovely, clean, large copy.

Moses Harris (1731-1785?) became “one of the most outstanding authors of entomological literature during the 18th century” after studying under his uncle and earning his appointment as secretary of an Aurelian society—entomologists who took their name from the gold color of the chrysalids of the silkworm (Lisney, Bibliography of British Lepidoptera). “A beautiful work in great estimation,” each of this scarce edition’s beautifully detailed plates was drawn and colored by Harris, who was considered “the best painter and engraver of insects of his day” (Quaritch 2557). Harris’ text closely follows “the outlines of the system of Linnaeus,” and the volume features a preface and index, along with an engraved title page, one diagram plate and 51 hand-colored copper-engraved plates (including scarce frontispiece). Text in English and French. Preceded by 1776 and 1781 editions. Nissen ZBI 1838. See Benezit, 412. Bookplate of John Thomas Stanley, First Baron Stanley of Alderly (1766-1850). Bookseller ticket.

Plates quite fresh, reinforcement to inner hinges, light scattered foxing to text, slight occasional dampstaining to margins and rear endpapers; original marbled boards quite nice. A lovely copy.

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Aquatint Copperplate process by which the plate is “bitten” by exposure to acid. By changing the areas of the plate that are exposed and the length of time the plate is submerged in the acid bath, the engraver can obtain fine and varying shades of gray that closely resemble watercolor washes. Although the name contains the word “tint”, this is a black-and-white printing process; aquatint plates can often be hand colored, however.
Armorial Used to describe a binding bearing the coat of arms of the original owner, or with bookplates incorporating the owner’s arms.
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Boards Hard front and rear covers of a bound book which are covered in cloth, leather or paper. “Original boards” refers to cardboard-like front and back boards, from about 1700 to 1840, used as temporary protection for books before their purchasers would have them bound. Of particular value to collectors as evidence of a very early form of the book.
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Lithograph Illustration produced by transferring an image drawn on a carefully prepared stone to paper. The process allowed illustrations to more closely resemble the original drawings, paintings or sketches, as it gave the lithographer a freedom of line impossible to achieve in earlier intaglio and relief processes. It does not require the same sort of pressure as an engraving to transfer the image, but still has to be printed on separate stock from the text
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