AS NATURE SHOWS THEM, MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES OF THE UNITED STATES EAST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS

Boston: Bradlee Whidden, 1900. Limited to 500 copies (no. 46). Small chip to each crown, spine evenly mellowed to golden brown, all else fine. A remarkable work.. Limited to 500 copies (no. 46). Two volumes. [xvi], 161p; [xvi], 163-361p. With over 400 photographic illustrations, including over 100 with transfers of species from life - ACTUAL WINGS. Beautifully bound in full green crushed morocco with marbled endpapers, a.e.g. the spines in uneven panels with gilt titles and butterfly vignettes and decorative panel frames, the covers with gilt fillet border and large gilt butterfly corner pieces. "New methods of printing color, often too difficult to be practical, were sometimes undertaken by enthusiasts. Denton says the plates in this book 'are direct transfers from the insects themselves; that is to say, the scales of the wings of the insects are transferred to the paper while the bodies are printed from engravings and afterward colored by hand... I have had to make over fifty thousand of these transfers for the entire edition, not being able to get anyone to help me who would do the work as I desired it done... I will say, however, that there never was a laborer more in love with his work....'" (Reese. Nineteenth Century American Color Plate Books, no. 107.).